Twenty-First Century Fox Q4 Loss Sharply Narrows

(RTTNews) - Diversified media company Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (FOXA), which completed its separation from News Corp. (NWS) in late June and is reporting its first quarterly financial results since the split, posted Tuesday a loss for the fourth quarter that sharply narrowed from last year, hurt by hefty loss from discontinued operations.

Twenty-First Century Fox carries the media and entertainment assets of News Corp. Its global portfolio consists of cable and broadcasting properties, including FOX, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports Network, National Geographic Channels, STAR, as well as film studio Twentieth Century Fox Film and television production studios Twentieth Century Fox Television and Shine Group.

"With the Separation complete 21st Century Fox launches as a distinct public company with its own identity, its own strategy and its own growth and capital plan. Although a significant amount of time and effort was spent over the past twelve months on this Separation, we never lost focus on the operation of our businesses," Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said in a statement.

The New York-based company reported a net loss of $371 millions or $0.16 per share for the fourth quarter, sharply narrower than $1.55 billion or $0.64 per share in the prior-year quarter.

As a result of the split, News Corp's historical financial results are reflected as discontinued operations.

Income from continuing operations for the quarter soared to $977 million or $0.42 per share from $596 million or $0.25 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted income from continuing operations for the quarter was $726 million or $0.31 per share, compared to $644 million or $0.27 per share last year.

On average, 3 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.32 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter increased 16 percent to $7.21 billion from $6.24 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts also estimated revenues of $7.21 billion for the quarter.

The company noted that about half of the increase reflects growth at the cable network programming and filmed entertainment segments with the balance primarily relating to this year's inclusion of Sky Deutschland revenues.

"The Company not only delivered strong earnings and revenue growth led by our channels businesses, we also positioned ourselves for future success with strategic investments in our global channels businesses, including the acquisitions of Sports Time Ohio and an ownership stake in the YES Network, as well as the announcement of the impending launches of Fox Sports 1 and FXX," Murdoch added.

Cable Network Programming revenues increased to $2.95 billion from $2.54 billion, while television revenues remained relatively flat with last year at $1.10 billion. Filmed Entertainment revenues edged up to $2.04 billion from $1.98 billion, and direct broadcast satellite television revenues grew to $1.38 billion from $948 million last year.

For fiscal 2013, the company reported net income of $7.10 billion or $3.03 per share, sharply higher than $1.18 billion or $0.47 per share in the prior year. Income from continuing operations nearly doubled to 6.82 billion or $2.91 per share from $3.18 billion or $1.27 per share in the year ago.

Excluding items, adjusted income from continuing operations for the year was $3.18 billion or $1.36 per share, compared to $3.01 billion or $1.20 per share last year.

Revenues for the full year increased 10 percent to $27.68 billion from $25.05 billion in the previous year.

Street was looking for full-year 2013 earnings of $1.41 per share on annual revenues of $27.66 billion.

FOXA closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $31.23, down $0.13 or 0.41% on a volume of 13.26 million shares. However, the stock rose $1.02 or 3.27% in after-hours trading.