SYDNEY - News Corp sold its 7.5 per cent stake in Fairfax Media Ltd this week because it felt the Australasian newspaper publisher no longer needed its protection from possible predators, said News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch.
Fairfax yesterday formally completed its A$2.8 ($3.18) billion merger with
regional newspaper publisher Rural Press.
". . . the rather surprise purchase of that was at a time of considerable conjecture that Fairfax may have fallen to very much more competitive hands, and we thought it a good defensive move," Mr Murdoch said on a teleconference call with international analysts and media.
"Since then Fairfax has moved on to almost double its size with all the mergers, and clearly they didn't need any help from us in their defence."
"So we've just moved on. And we've taken our money back plus a little bit of foreign exchange profit."
News bought the stake in Fairfax in October for A$360 million and sold it on Monday for $380.25 million.
Mr Murdoch told journalists that the sale several days ago to an institutional investor "had nothing to do" with the company's future intentions in Australia.
"We still have plenty of ambitious and interesting ideas."
Mr Murdoch declined to comment on whether News Corp was interested in expanding its cable television interests in Australia by acquisition.
When asked if News Corp would be interested in raising its stake in cable television carrier Austar Ltd, Mr Murdoch replied:
"That's not anything we can really answer.
"It's a matter for the board of Foxtel, which is a partnership in which we only have 25 per cent."
Foxtel is a major shareholder of Austar.
Meanwhile, News Corp today announced that its fiscal third-quarter profit rose to US$871 million, or 27 cents per share, from US$820 million, or 26 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue for the company, home to the Fox television network and online teen hangout MySpace, rose 21 per cent to US$7.53 billion.
The results were in line with analysts' average forecast for earnings per share of 27 cents and beat revenue expectations of US$6.81 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
News Corp said last week it had made a US$5 billion offer, or US$60 per share, to buy Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones as it seeks a foothold in the business media industry.
- AAP, REUTERS
