Robert Thomson
Robert Thomson

News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson reports a 22 percent decline in Q4 revenues (ended June) to $1.9B and a $401M net loss, compared to a $42M deficit a year ago.

The owner of the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Sun, Times of London and Australian newspapers estimates the COVID-19 pandemic cut revenues by $330M during the period.

News Corp reported full-year revenues of $9B, off 11 percent from last year. The $1.6B in red ink compares to $228M profit in 2019.

WSJ subscriptions jumped 15 percent to nearly 3M during the quarter. Digital-only subs advanced 23 percent to 2.2M, representing 75 percent of total subscriptions.

Ad revenues dipped 28 percent to 28M, largely due to a 43 percent drop in print ad revenues, while digital took a 7 percent hit.

Thomson said News Corp took stringent action to cut costs during the quarter and launched a shared services program, which will have a "materially positive impact" on the bottom line.