Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) reported second quarter earnings on Wednesday that topped Wall Street’s expectations backed by hits like “Man of Steel”, “Hangover III” and “The Great Gatsby” and increasing popularity of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
“We had a very strong quarter and first half financially and operationally, putting us on track for another great year,” said CEO Jeffrey Bewkes.
Time Warner’s film and television segment strong
For the quarter, revenues were up 10 percent to $7.4 billion from the same period last year. The impressive performance from the Time Warner’s film and television businesses compensated for the poor run of the publishing division.
Adjusted earnings per share for the media conglomerate came in at 83 cents compared to 57 cents for the year-ago period. Net income for the quarter jumped 86.7 percent to $771 million versus $413 million in the year-ago period. Analysts expected earnings of 75 cents a share, on revenue of $7.11 billion.
Segment wise performance
Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX)’s film and television segment reported a 12 percent rise in revenues. “Man of Steel” is the third biggest movie of the year so far, next only to “Iron Man 3” and the animated film “Despicable Me 2.” Film adjusted operating was up 34 percent to $184 million, which was partly impacted by higher film costs and increased advertising, restructuring and severance expenses.
For cable TV networks, revenue was up 7 percent backed by ad revenues from the NBA playoffs on TNT and the 2013 NCAA basketball tournament.
CNN gained 70 percent ratings in its key demo, “taking share from competing news networks,” CEO told. HBO also increased its popularity owing to hits like Game of Thrones, which gained 20 percent in viewership. Also, Behind the Candelabra, was the most watched HBO film in a decade.
However, for Time Inc., revenue dropped 3 percent. Time Warner is in the process of spinning off the unit into a separate company.
Guidance raised
Following the strong second quarter performance, Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) raised the guidance for the full year, and now expects adjusted per share income to grow in the mid-teens compared with the $3.24 recorded for 2012. The company earlier expected a low double-digit growth.
In the pre-market trading, shares of the media group were up 3.31 percent to $66.20.
