Fox Corporation said profit in its fiscal third quarter tumbled due to higher operating expenses despite a windfall of ad revenue generated by the company’s recent broadcast of Super Bowl LIX.
The owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcast network said net income attributable to shareholders in the period came to $346 million, or 75 cents a share, compared with $666 million, or $1.40 a share in the year-earlier period.
Profit was harder to come by even as the company saw robust results from its operations during the period. Revenue increased 27%, or $924 million, to $4.37 billion during the period, with advertising sales up 65% overall, largely due to the Super Bowl telecast. Affiliate fees rose 3%.
The company’s top executive, Lachlan Murdoch, pointed investors to Fox’s free cash flow and revenue, not its profit. “Whether it is our market leading coverage of a sustained, active news cycle or our broadcast of a record-breaking Super Bowl, we deliver for our audiences, advertisers and distribution partners,” he said in a prepared statement. ” We are confident that our best-in-class assets, deliberate strategy and robust balance sheet position us strongly to drive long-term value for our shareholders.”
Revenue tied to the Super Bowl came to $800 million, Murdoch said during a call with investors.
The company’s cable operations saw revenue rise $164 million, or 11%, to $1.64 billion, largely due to a 3% increase in affiliate fees and a 26% increase in ad revenue. Ad revenue rose $76 million due to higher ratings at Fox News, among other factors.
Fox’s traditional TV business saw revenue rise $766 million, or 40%, to $2.7 billion, and cited new growth at its Tubi streaming service in addition to the Super Bowl activity. Cash flow narrowed in the quarter, however, with Fox citing higher sports programming rights amortization and production costs driven by the broadcast of Super Bowl LIX.
More to come…
