By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Fox stock (NASDAQ:FOXA) traded 2.7% higher in premarket Wednesday as the company extracted higher fees from distributors and earned more from advertising in the fourth quarter.
After being shut for a large part last year, sports activity picked up and that got viewers back, attracting both advertisers and partners.
Revenue in cable network programming rose 10% to $1.6 billion. This was primarily led by contractual price increases and renewals by distributors. Advertising revenue at the cable network rose, albeit marginally, because of pricing strength at Fox News Media. This was despite having a strong comparison period last year due to the elections.
TV revenue rose 8% to $2.8 billion, relying on the strength of the company’s sports portfolio. Acquisitions of production company MarVista Entertainment and celebrity-focused online tabloid TMZ also boosted TV revenue.
The company will pay a dividend of 24 cents. It has $1.86 billion still be to be used for share repurchases under a previously authorized program.
Adjusted profit per share in the quarter fell 3 cents to 13 cents but was well ahead of estimates.