With the uncertainties in the bigger economic picture, including credit, oil prices and housing concerns, Rupert Murdoch said that it will be very difficult to project how 2008 will be until things settle down and become clearer.
Murdoch said concerning the near future: "Right now, all the economic indicators are that next year could be rough. We're not going to give guidance until we're a little bit closer to it."
In referring to "guidance," Murdoch is talking about a snapshot of what he reasonably thinks the near future will hold for the company.
Although the company posted a 13 percent drop in quarterly earnings over last year during the same period, that was mostly related to some one-off charges. Excluding that, the company enjoyed an operating profit increase of 23 percent.
Overall, investors and analysts like what they saw.
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