Big profits for tabloids fails to keep News Int in the black

News International moved into the red for the year to 27 June 2010, reporting a pre-tax loss of £78.5 million.

This compares with a profit of £334.7 million in 2009, with the company citing “the weak economic climate” and its impact on advertising spend as a key reason.

The year saw News International write off a £45 million loan to now defunct thelondonpaper, and seek revenue streams outside print media with the controversial paywall for The Times, The Sunday Times and News of the World websites.

However, the devil is in the details, with News International-owned sister companies News Group and Times Newspapers telling very different stories.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Group – publisher of red-tops including The Sun – had a “record year in advertising” – doubling its pre-tax profits.

Although improving on its pre-tax loss of £87.7 million of 2009, Times Newspapers – including The Times and The Sunday Times – still ran at a loss of £45 million.

In the face of The Sun‘s success, as it retains its title of the best selling daily newspaper with a circulation of 2.7 million copies in December 2010, the dramatic 14% reduction in average net circulation for The Times cranks up the pressure on Murdoch’s online paywall experiment.