The publishing wing of News Corporation incurred a loss of $US2.1bnloss in the last financial year.
Revenues fell 5%, partly as a result of the closure of the News of the World, which was closed after the phone-hacking scandal in Britain.
The company detailed the losses as it formally applied to the Securities & Exchange Commission in the United States to split its business into two.
The BBC reports News Corp plans to separate publishing from its film and TV business.
The publishing arm, which News Corp said made a profit of $US678 million the year before, will be called New News Corp.
It will include book publisher Harper Collins, the Times and the Sun newspapers in Britain, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and The Australian.
The more lucrative TV and film business will be the parent company and will be called Fox Group. It will include Fox News and the 20th Century Fox film studio.
