News Corp reveals billion pound write down

Rupert Murdoch's global media network News Corporation has announced a profits gain in the third quarter following a successful year from the group's film industry division.
Productions such as the musical Moulin Rouge and big budget animation feature Ice Age have seen profits at the group boosted by as much as 18 per cent. News Corp's backing of the latest in the Stars Wars saga Episode II: The Attack of the Clones – is also certain to see massive returns from what will be the film event of the year.
Executive at News Corp are so confident that the have revised their full-year profit predictions by up to 3-5%.
Film revenues within the filmmaking division, which includes 20th Century Fox have effectively quadrupled this year following the box office success. Elsewhere, television revenues displayed an more vigorous increase as operating profits soared by up to 15 per cent.
However, the news was not all good for the company which also announced that it had to write down a massive £2.74 billion investment in the Australia-based Gemstar television platform during the same period.
The Gemstar venture has proved costly for the group as the value of Gemstar – an Australian-based network – has fallen by as much as two thirds since January this year. News Corp own 38.5% of the network. The write down was the biggest in Australian corporate history.
However, the company is expected to gain elsewhere as BSkyB soaks up former customers from failed platform ITV Digital. News Corp owns a sizeable stake in BSkyB and last week the broadcaster revealed that profits topped £129 million for the quarter.
(GMcG)