FOX Fox Corporation

By Kimberly Chin 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (February 7, 2019).

21st Century Fox Inc.'s quarterly profit rose on gains for the company's cable networks and movie business and the sale of shares in Sky PLC.

The New York-based media company is in the midst of a major overhaul, including the sale of its Hollywood studio and other entertainment assets to Walt Disney Co. for $71 billion and its stake in European content and distribution giant Sky.

21st Century Fox said on Wednesday that it has made significant progress with the Disney transaction and its spinoff into a newly named Fox Corp.

The company earned $10.82 billion, or $5.80 a share, in its fiscal second quarter, up from $1.83 billion, or 99 cents a share, a year earlier. The sale of the company's stake in Sky to Comcast Corp. contributed $5.62 a share for the period ended Dec. 31.

It reported adjusted per-share earnings of 37 cents, down from 42 cents a year earlier but ahead of the estimate of 32 cents from analysts polled by FactSet.

The company's cable business, which includes Fox News and Fox Sports 1, booked $4.45 billion in revenue, up about 7% from a year earlier and roughly in line with analysts' expectations. There had been some concern that advertiser boycotts triggered by controversial statements by Fox News personalities would hurt revenue. The division's operating income rose 6.5%.

Sales for its filmed-entertainment unit, which produces for both TV and movie screens, fell roughly 4%, but operating income for the segment was up 47%, in part due to lower theatrical-release costs.

In the U.S., advertising revenue for broadcast television rose 15%, largely on the back of sports on the Fox network, while the unit's overall sales rose 19%. However, it reported an operating loss stemming from increased spending on rights to air Thursday Night Football games.

Overall revenue for the quarter increased about 6% to $8.49 billion.

When Disney completes its acquisition of the Fox entertainment assets, the new Fox company will revolve around live programming, especially news, on channels such as Fox News, and sports on the FS1 Network.

21st Century Fox shares common ownership with News Corp, parent company of The Wall Street Journal.

Corrections & Amplifications Analysts polled by FactSet expected 21st Century Fox to earn 33 cents a share in the fourth quarter. A previous version of this article incorrectly said analysts expected 99 cents per share. (Feb. 6)

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 07, 2019 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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