Cable Business Powers Fox Revenue Increase

Cable networks powered revenue and adjusted profit growth for 21st Century Fox in the March quarter, as increases in subscription fees and ad dollars offset higher programming expenses.

The company's cable network division continued to log solid revenue growth, rising 9.8% to $3.94 billion in the latest quarter after increasing 9.4% in the December quarter. Adjusted operating profit for that segment rose 12%.

At the broadcast TV unit, revenue was up 5% thanks to higher carriage fees and political advertising, but increased sports programming costs dragged down the segment's adjusted operating income 11%.

The film studio segment, which has been a weak spot for Fox the past few quarters, showed some improvement as revenue in that segment fell 2.8%--a sharp moderation from the 14% decline in film studio revenue the company had posted in the December quarter. Adjusted operating income from the segment jumped 23%.

Fox is the owner of Twentieth Century Fox studio, cable channels Fox News and FX and the Fox broadcast network.

Rupert Murdoch split his media empire in 2013, with entertainment assets going to 21st Century Fox and the publishing assets, including The Wall Street Journal, going to News Corp. Mr. Murdoch stepped down as chief executive of 21st Century Fox last summer, handing the reins to his son James.

The company reported a steeper loss from streaming media service Hulu, though it didn't offer specific figures. Hulu is co-owned by Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp. Hulu on Wednesday confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that it is developing a subscription service that would stream feeds of popular broadcast and cable TV channels, the latest threat to emerge for traditional cable companies.

Over all, 21st Century Fox reported a net profit of $841 million, or 44 cents a share, down from $975 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier. Net income from continuing operations attributable to stockholders was $844 million, down from $990 million in the year-earlier period.

Excluding certain items, per-share profit rose to 47 cents from 42 cents. Revenue rose 5.7% to $7.23 billion.

Analysts had projected 47 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $7.18 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares of the company rose 0.7% to $30.01 after hours.

Write to Nathan Becker at [e-mail] and Lisa Beilfuss at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2016 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.