Record Results for CBS Corporation

NEW YORK: Content licensing revenues from both traditional and digital platforms and retransmission content fees were among the key drivers in CBS Corporation's financials, with the company posting its highest-ever fourth quarter and full-year results.

“CBS continues to turn in stellar performances year in and year out, and none better than 2013,” said Sumner Redstone, executive chairman of CBS Corporation. “The company’s strategy of monetizing its content across all platforms is driving our results today, and it will continue to enhance our ability to achieve even greater success in the future. I’m confident that Les and his team will lead CBS to new heights in 2014 and beyond.”

“Our record fourth-quarter and full-year results demonstrate CBS’s stature as one of the world’s foremost creators of premium content,” said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO. “In addition to the solid performance of our base business, our fast-growing, non-advertising revenue streams are playing a bigger and bigger role in our results, and they will continue to do so in the years to come. These include the sale of three hit shows—Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods and Elementary—into domestic syndication, along with new deals in digital streaming, international syndication, retransmission consent and reverse compensation. Plus, we plan to launch the IPO of our Outdoor business this quarter, which will unlock its value and significantly enhance our ability to return capital to shareholders. In fact, that’s why today we’re announcing an accelerated share repurchase of $1.5 billion in addition to stepping up the pace of our open market share repurchases during the first quarter. Our Outdoor transactions will also result in a CBS that is much closer to a pure content company, with about half of our revenue coming from steady and recurring sources. Looking ahead, we are extremely excited about all the opportunities that we have in a marketplace that’s exploding with new ways to engage with the best content.”

In Q4, revenues gained 6 percent to $3.9 billion with content licensing and distribution revenues up 28 percent to $898 million, led by higher domestic and international licensing of television programming. Affiliate and subs revenues were up 7 percent to $542 million while ad revenues were relatively flat at $2.4 billion. Net earnings for the period were $470 million.

For the full year, revenues grew by 8 percent to $15.3 billion, as content licensing and distribution revenues rose 15 percent to $4 billion and affiliate and subs revenues were up 16 percent to $2.2 billion. Ad revenues were up 4 percent to $8.8 billion. For the full year, net profit was $1.9 billion.