by: Georg Szalai | HollywoodReporter.com

LONDON - Tom Mockridge, who took over News Corp.'s News International U.K. newspaper unit amid the phone hacking scandal a year ago, said he is not aware of any company plans to sell newspapers as he has focused on making or keeping his division's papers profitable ahead of the conglomerate's split into two.

In his first major interview since taking on the role, he also told the Financial Times that people are underestimating the outlook of the publishing company, which Wall Street observers see as a lower-growth, higher-risk entity compared with the planned entertainment-centric post-split company.