Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) announced its financial results for the third quarter that beat analysts’ estimates, thanks to growth at its Home Box Office and Warner Bros. divisions. The company has been increasing its online efforts and making heavy investments in content, as customers are preferring low-priced “skinny packages” of channels.
Cable programming is the largest engine at Time Warner (TWX), whose holdings comprise HBO and Turner Broadcasting,TNT, TBS and other networks. The company also has introduced HBO Now, an online version of the pay-TV channel, in a bid to sign up customers who don’t subscribe to usualpay-TV.
The company reported that its profit jumped to $1.04 billion, or $1.26 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from $967 million, or $1.11 per share in the same period one year ago. On adjusted basis, the company posted earnings of $1.25 per share for the period, well above $1.09 per share estimated by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Revenue for the quarter came in at $6.56 billion, representing a surge of 5.1 percent from the same period last year. Analysts were looking for revenue of $6.51 billion.
Revenue at HBO jumped 4.8 percent to $1.37 billion in the latest quarter, driven by a surge of 4 percent in subscription revenue and a jump of 13 percent in content and other revenues.
The biggest top-line contributor, Warner Bros announced revenue of $3.19 billion for the third quarter, up 15 percent from the same period last year. The company reported that the growth was helped by the launch of new videogames such as Mad Max and Lego Dimensions, and improved revenue from television licensing.
Revenue at Turner, which consists of television channels like TBS and TNT, dropped 2 percent to $2.4 billion. On the other hand, content and other revenues plummeted 15 percent.
