Rupert Murdoch silent on phone hacking as News Corp profits rise

Rupert Murdoch dodged questions about the widening phone-hacking scandal yesterday. The chairman and chief executive of News Corp, owner of the News of the World, refused to talk about the issue at the press launch of the Daily, his iPad news service, and later missed the Q&A session for News Corp's quarterly reports. Executives said he was still briefing media about the launch of the Daily. Investigations into allegations of widespread phone hacking at the News of the World are complicating the company's attempts to gain full control of the satellite broadcaster BSkyB, in which it already has a 39.1% stake. It has offered £7.8bn for the remainder, but the hacking scandal has added to tight regulatory scrutiny. Murdoch usually attends the quarterly briefing for analysts in New York, but this time he left the questions to Chase Carey, News Corp's chief operating officer. Carey said: "We believe we made a full and fair offer … Our focus is on the regulatory process and we are trying to move forward with that." News Corp's assets include the Times newspapers, Fox News, movie studios and Myspace. Its fiscal second-quarter profit more than doubled as advertising at its cable TV networks and TV stations bounced back. The company earned $642m (£396m) for the quarter, against $254m in the same period a year earlier. Carey confirmed Myspace was now up for sale. It lost $156m for the quarter, $31m more than last year. "Now is the right time for News Corp to consider strategic options for the business," he said.