Profit Slips at Time Warner

NEW YORK: As a result of charges related to its debt redemption, net profit at Time Warner in the third quarter fell by 21 percent to $522 million, on revenues that were up 2 percent to $6.4 billion.

The fall in profits stems from a $295 million pre-tax loss from premiums paid and transaction costs incurred in connection with the redemption of debt securities, the company said.

Announcing the results, chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes commented, “Time Warner achieved strong performance yet again in the quarter and, with adjusted EPS up more than 35 percent through the first three quarters, we remain on track for a very strong year. Our strategy of focusing on high-quality branded content continues to pay off. Our networks businesses delivered robust growth in advertising and subscription revenues in the quarter. And Time Inc. again increased its share in overall domestic print advertising. In television, Turner, HBO and Warner Bros. all debuted new hit shows, like Rizzoli & Isles, Boardwalk Empire and Mike & Molly. In film, Warner Bros. continued to benefit from the strong performance of our worldwide blockbuster Inception, and we’re enthusiastic about the rest of this year’s release schedule. At the same time, we’re executing against our capital plan and have returned more than $2.2 billion in dividends and share repurchases to stockholders so far this year."

At Turner Broadcasting and HBO, revenues were up by 9 percent to $3 billion, with sub revenues up 9 percent, ad revenues up 10 percent and content revenues up 2 percent. The segment delivered an operating income of $1.1 billion, up from the year-ago’s $924 million. At Warner Bros., revenues were stable at $2.8 billion, while operating income fell from $291 million to $200 million.