News Corp posts strong performance despite Australian slow leak
News Corp’s global business has posted strong full year financials — with a 2% rise in full-year revenues and a 14% increase in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) — despite declining revenue in its Australian operations.
One of the weaker performers in the News Corp portfolio was its News Media division, which globally saw its full-year revenues decline by US$100 million (AU$155m), or 4%. Within this, advertising revenues decreased by $39 million ($60m), or 5%, primarily due to lower print advertising revenues at News Corp Australia and lower digital advertising revenues at News UK.
The Australian business, which is split out into “Advertising”, “Subscription and circulation” and “Other” lines, saw total revenue go 2% backwards year-on-year. Advertising revenue was down 5%. Stacking the numbers for the past four financial years shows a clear downward trend (see graph). Because News Corp does not break out EBITDA or net income numbers for Australia, it is not possible to judge Australian cost management and profitability from these accounts.
In its results announcement, News Corp pointed to algorithmic changes “at certain platforms” as one driver of lower traffic to its digital titles, primarily The Sun tabloid.
News Corp’s 2025 segment results (Click to enlarge)
Real estate arm REA was one of the key drivers of the good result, with record full-year revenues of $1.25 billion ($1.93 billion). News Corp said the 12% year-on-year increase was driven by continued strong Australian residential performance.
Digital subscriptions are also on the up, with News Corp Australia now boasting 1.166 million digital subscribers, 993,000 of which are for news mastheads, a notable increase from last year’s 1.117 million total (and 968,000 for news mastheads).
The slow shift to digital revenues was reflected globally, with digital revenues representing 38% of News Media segment revenues in Q4, compared to Q4 last year.
On the print side, circulation and subscription revenues decreased $10 million globally across the full financial year, a 1% drop, primarily due to print volume declines.
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said the company has posted a “sterling performance” with “robust results” which enhanced its financial position.
News Corp’s Robert Thomson attempts to get the attention of US President Trump
He also used his comments to attempt to rally US President Donald Trump to take more definitive action on the unchecked advancement of AI.
“The AI age must cherish the value of intellectual property if we are collectively to realise our potential,” he said. “Much is made of the competition with China, but America’s advantage is ingenuity and creativity, not bits and bytes, not watts but wit. To undermine that competitive advantage by stripping away IP rights is to vandalise our virtuosity.
“Even the President of the United States is not immune to this blatant theft. The President’s books are still reporting healthy sales, but are being consumed by AI engines which profit from his thoughts by cannibalising his concepts, thus undermining future sales of his books. Suddenly, The Art of the Deal has become The Art of the Steal.”
News Corp’s 2025 financial performance (Click to enlarge)
The global company’s full-year revenues of $8.45 billion, up 2%, was driven by higher revenues at the Digital Real Estate Services, Dow Jones and Book Publishing segments, and an $8 million ($12.36 million) positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations. Its EBITDA of $1.42 billion ($2.19 billion), a 14% increase, was driven by the same three segments, as well as cost-saving initiatives across the News Media segment.
Within its results, News Corp also noted Factiva’s revenues had been hampered by a customer dispute, but did not provide further details. Factiva is part of News Corp’s Dow Jones segment and offers global news and data monitoring with the assistance of generative AI.
The company declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.10 ($0.15) per share, payable on 8 October.
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