21st Century Fox Posts Higher Profit on Increased Revenue, Sale of Sky Stake
07 February 2019 - 1:28AM
Dow Jones News
By Kimberly Chin
21st Century Fox Inc. said it beat profit expectations in its
latest quarter as it benefited from a one-time gain related to the
decision to sell its stake in Sky PLC.
The media company earned $10.82 billion, or $5.80 a share, up
from $1.83 billion, or 99 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts
polled by FactSet forecast earnings of 99 cents a share.
The recent quarter's profit included a per-share boost of $5.62
related to the sale of the rest of its shares in Sky to Comcast
Corp.
21st Century Fox is in the midst of a major overhaul, as it
sells a large portion of its entertainment assets, including its
Hollywood studio and international properties, to Walt Disney Co.
for $71 billion and the rest of its stake in European content and
distribution giant Sky. The company said on Wednesday that it has
made significant progress regarding the transaction and expected
spinoff.
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
ago. Analysts expected the company's largest business would
generate $4.41 billion in revenue.
The company also reported higher affiliate and advertising
revenue in the cable and television units, but that was partially
offset by lower entertainment revenue from its film segment.
Film-unit sales fell roughly 4%.
In the U.S., advertising revenue in television rose by 15%
largely due to higher advertising for sports at the Fox Broadcast
Network. However it reported an operating loss in its television
and network stations segment due to higher expenses associated with
increased spending on rights to air Thursday Night Football games.
Still, sales from its television unit rose 19%.
Overall revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 increased about 6%
to $8.49 billion.
The company traded slightly higher in premarket trading at
$49.04 a share. The stock has risen 34% in the past 12 months.
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.
Last September, Comcast Corp. had prevailed in a bid against
21st Century Fox for the assets of Sky not owned by 21st Century,
securing control of the company. Subsequently, 21st Century Fox
sold the rest of its stake to Comcast. The telecommunications
conglomerate had also bid on 21st Century Fox's entertainment
assets, losing out to Disney in a bidding war.
Members of the Murdoch family are major shareholders in 21st
Century Fox and in News Corp, the company that owns The Wall Street
Journal.
Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 06, 2019 09:13 ET (14:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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