Advertising revenue grew 3 percent, CBS said Thursday. The
company pointed out that last year's licensing revenue bump from the sale of CW
network shows to Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu wasn't repeated. Local broadcasting
revenue grew less than expected and the Simon & Schuster book publishing
business declined faster than analysts were bracing for.
"Advertising revenue is growing, and our revenue from
non-advertising sources continues to grow even faster," said CBS chief
executive Leslie Moonves in a statement. "This includes new recently
signed streaming, retransmission consent and reverse compensation deals, as
well as ongoing strength in domestic and international syndication sales.
Meanwhile, the confidence and visibility we have in our operations, along with
the strategic actions we're pursuing at CBS Outdoor, have allowed us to
announce today that we are accelerating the pace of our share repurchase
program by another billion dollars."
Net income in the three months through Dec. 31 was $393
million, or 60 cents per share. That's up from $370 million, or 55 cents per
share, a year earlier.
Excluding discontinued operations, adjusted earnings came to
64 cents per share. That was below the 69 cents expected by analysts polled by
FactSet.
Revenue grew 2 percent to $3.7 billion, below the $3.83
billion analysts were expecting.
The company also said it would double its share buyback
program by $1 billion in 2013.
CBS is preparing to spin off its outdoor billboard business
in North America into a real estate investment trust, which should return a
high proportion of its cash flow to investors. It is also planning to sell its
European outdoor operations.
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