Twenty-First Century Fox Inc’s reported quarterly revenue that beat analysts’ estimate on Wednesday, as higher fees from cable and satellite distributors drove cable business earnings to a record high.
Fox, which agreed to sell the bulk of its film and TV assets to Walt Disney Co last year in a $52.4 billion deal, expects to ask for shareholder approval of the transaction this summer, Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair, said on an analyst call.
Murdoch declined to comment on reports that Comcast Corp is preparing an all-cash rival offer for the assets, which Reuters first reported Monday
Fox expects to receive UK regulatory approval on its bid to buy the remaining stake it does not already own of European pay-TV provider in the next couple of months, James Murdoch, chief executive officer of Twenty-First Century Fox, said on the call. Comcast this week notified regulators of its plans to bid for Sky.
Revenue from Fox’s cable division, which houses the Fox News and FX channels among others, rose 9.8 percent to $4.42 billion, accounting for more than half of total revenue in the fiscal third quarter ended March 31.
Despite the departure of former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly amid sexual misconduct allegations last spring, prime-time ratings of Fox News have held up when looking at April compared to the year-ago period, Lachlan Murdoch said.
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Revenue at its television unit, which houses Fox Broadcasting, was $1.15 billion, down 32 percent from the year-ago quarter, which included the Super Bowl, and missed analysts’ estimate of $1.28 billion.
Total revenue fell 2 percent to $7.42 billion, but beat estimates of $7.4 billion.
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