News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) fell in morning trading after foreign currency headwinds and weakness in print advertising propelled the media company to post a 4% drop in its fiscal first quarter revenue.
Shares declined 2.3% to $14.99 at 9:46 a.m. in New York on Friday.
Revenue declined to $2.01bn from $2.11bn a year earlier, the New York-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Analysts polled by Capital IQ had expected total revenue of $2.09bn.
The revenue weakness was driven by an 11% drop in revenue at the news and information services segment, which accounts for two-thirds of News Corp's total revenue.
Meanwhile, income from continuing operations rose to $143mln, or $0.22 per share, from $109mln, or $0.15 per share, in the year-ago period.
Stripping out certain items, such as a $151mln tax benefit from the sale of the company's digital-education business, adjusted earnings were $0.05 per share in the latest period.
Analysts had predicted adjusted per-share earnings of $0.06.
"News Corp is on track in its transition to a more digital and global future, having successfully integrated several recent acquisitions and built a powerful platform for future growth," News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson was quoted in the statement as saying.
Advertising revenue sank 13% in the news and information segment, which comprises newspaper holdings in Britain, Australia and the U.S..
The print advertising weakness was most notable in Australia, the company said.
Circulation and subscription revenue in the segment dropped 5%, driven by negative foreign currency fluctuations.