Discovery Posts Q4 Profit

SILVER SPRING: Discovery Communications recorded a profit of $106 million for the fourth quarter on revenues of $904 million, helped along by gains at its U.S. networks.

Discovery’s networks in the U.S. saw revenues rise by 8 percent to $536 million with an adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) of $300 million, a 168-percent increase. Distribution revenues were up by 13 percent to $236 million, and ad revenues increased by 6 percent to $282 million.

At the international networks, while OIBDA rose 32-percent to $107 million, revenues were down 4 percent to $294 million, primarily as a result of foreign-currency fluctuations. Distribution revenues were down 2 percent to $165 million, and ad revenues fell 12 percent to $99 million.

For the year, meanwhile, the company reported total revenues of $3.4 billion, a 10-percent increase, with U.S. networks up 10 percent to $2.1 billion and international nets up 12 percent to $1.16 billion. Profit for the year was $317 million.

For 2009, Discovery forecasts revenues of between $3.38 billion and $3.5 billion, with an adjusted OIBDA of between $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion and a net profit of between $475 million and $575 million.

Announcing the results, David Zaslav, Discovery’s president and CEO, said, "This past year was one of significant accomplishment for Discovery, as we delivered strong operating performances across our businesses and successfully transitioned to a fully public company. Strategically, we strengthened the programming and development at our fully distributed channels and finished the year with double-digit ratings growth in the fourth quarter among key demos at Discovery Channel and TLC. We also established new identities for several of our emerging networks and continued our international expansion, increasing our subscriber base overseas by 16 percent. Most importantly, our strategic initiatives were achieved while strongly growing revenues and Adjusted OIBDA, in what are increasingly challenging times. As we execute our 2009 operating plan in a difficult economic climate, our stable foundation of contracted and growing subscription revenues, diversified international expansion and stringent focus on costs give us confidence that we will outperform the marketplace and continue to grow moving forward."