21st Century Fox Posts Higher Profit on Increased Revenue, Sale of Sky Stake

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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2019 09:13 ET (14:13 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.