Monday, July 18, 2011

"News Corp share slide almost 6% on phone hacking arrest"

Shares of News Corporation, the company owned by Australian billionaire Rupert Murdoch, have dropped almost 6% to a two-year low.

The slide comes as an investigation into phone hacking in the UK has widened and a key figure was arrested.

News Corp owns the two newspapers at the heart of the scandal, The Sun and the now closed News of the World.

In afternoon trading in Sydney, the shares were down 5.5% at 13.91 Australian dollars (£9.20).

Its shares have lost almost a fifth of their value since the start of July.

Analysts say the events of the past few days have caused major damage to the company, as 19% of its total value has evaporated.

"You're now looking at [about] 10 billion dollars wiped off the value since the peak," said Stephen Mayne, director of the Australian Shareholders' Association.

Widening probe

News Corp is the parent company of News International, which runs The Sun, the News of the World, The Times and Sunday Times.

On Sunday, ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was arrested by police in the UK on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption.

Mrs Brooks has denied wrongdoing and was released on bail at midnight (2300 GMT).

In another twist, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson stepped down for his part in the phone hacking scandal.

Sir Paul, Britain's most senior police officer, was criticised for hiring former News of the World executive Neil Wallis - who was questioned by police as part of the probe into hacking - as an adviser.

Leadership change?

Today's drop has fuelled the debate over whether there needs to be a management shakeup at News Corp.

Mr Mayne says independent directors at the company have been discussing a change in leadership.

"The shareholder pressure, particularly today's tumultuous fall on Australian markets after the amazing developments over the weekend, is clearly showing that this is a gathering storm."

Although some reports suggest this may not be the case.

Tom Perkins, who is on the board of News Corp, denied that any such discussions were ongoing in an emailed response to Reuters news agency.

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