New York - Rupert Murdoch's US-based media conglomerate News Corporation Wednesday reported fourth-quarter losses of 203 million dollars, citing writedowns at its internet unit and diving advertising income.

The figures compared to the 1.1 billion dollars in profits reported for the same period of 2008 by News Corp, which counts Fox broadcast network and the Wall Street Journal as the stars of its multi-faceted empire.

For the budget year ending June 30, 2009, News Corp was bracing for losses of 3.4 billion dollars.

The worst recession since World War II has battered ad sales at News Corps local TV stations, social-networking Web site MySpace and newspapers, which include the New York Post and London's Sunday Times. The company also owns Twentieth Century Fox film studios.

Revenues dropped by 11 per cent to 7.7 billion dollars. For the entire year, sales were down by 8 per cent to 30.4 billion dollars, News Corp said Wednesday after stock markets closed.(dpa)