Upcoming AWS Coverage on AMC Networks Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / February 17, 2017 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) (NASDAQ: FOX). The Company posted its financial results for the second quarter fiscal 2017 results on February 06, 2017. The media Company surpassed bottom-line expectations and delivered double-digit earnings growth for a second consecutive quarter, bolstered by increases in affiliate and advertising revenues across cable and television. Register with us now for your free membership at: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.

One of Twenty-First Century Fox's competitors within the Entertainment - Diversified space, AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX), announced on February 02, 2017, that it will host a conference call to discuss results for the full year and Q4 2016 on Thursday, February 23, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. ET. AMC Networks will issue a press release reporting its results prior to the market opening. AWS will be initiating a research report on AMC Networks in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on FOXA and FOX; touching on AMCX. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

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Earnings Reviewed

For the three months ended December 31, 2016, Twenty-First Century Fox reported total revenues of $7.68 billion, up 4% from the $7.38 billion reported in Q2 FY16. The revenue growth was attributed to higher affiliate and advertising revenues at both the Cable Network Programming and Television segments which was partially offset by lower content revenues at the Filmed Entertainment segment. The Company's revenue number fell short of analysts' consensus of $7.71 billion.

For Q2 FY17, Twenty-First Century Fox's reported income from continuing operations attributable to stockholders was $857 million, or $0.46 per share, compared to $674 million or $0.34 per share in Q2 FY16. Excluding the net income effects of other, net and adjustments to Equity losses of affiliates, including adjustments related to Sky plc and Endemol Shine Group, adjusted earnings from continuing operations attributable to stockholders was $0.53 per share, up 20% on a y-o-y basis. The results surpassed Wall Street's expectations for earnings of $0.49 per share.

Twenty-First Century Fox's total segment's operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) was $1.99 billion for Q2 FY17, an increase of 15% from the $1.73 billion reported in Q2 FY16, driven by higher contributions from all of the Company's operating segments with particularly strong growth reported at the Television and Filmed Entertainment segments.

Segment Results

For Q2 FY17, Twenty-First Century Fox's Cable Network Programming segment OIBDA grew 6% to $1.33 billion, driven by a 7% revenue increase on higher affiliate and advertising revenues which was partially offset by an 8% increase in expenses. The increase in expenses was primarily due to higher Major League Baseball sports rights costs at FOX Sports 1 (fs1) and higher National Basketball League sports rights costs at the regional sports networks (rsn). Additionally, the inclusion of a full quarter of results from the National Geographic non-channels businesses, which were acquired in November 2015, had a 2% impact on both revenue and expense growth in the reported quarter.

The Company's domestic affiliate revenue increased 7%, reflecting continued contractual rate increases led by FX Networks, FS1, Fox News and the RSNs. Domestic advertising revenue grew 12% on a y-o-y basis, attributed to higher ratings at Fox News and higher postseason baseball ratings at FS1. Domestic OIBDA contributions increased 12% versus the year ago period led by higher contributions from Fox News and FX Networks.

For Q2 FY17, Twenty-First Century Fox's International affiliate revenue increased 5% driven by strong local currency growth of 12%, with double digit growth reported at both Fox Networks Group International (FNGI) and STAR India, partially offset by negative currency impacts from the strengthened US dollar. International advertising revenue decreased 6% as local currency growth at FNGI was more than offset by lower local currency advertising revenues at STAR India due to the effect of the Indian government demonetization initiatives on the general advertising market and the negative currency impacts from the strengthened US dollar.

During Q2 FY17, Twenty-First Century Fox's Television segment OIBDA surged 35% on a y-o-y basis to $376 million. Quarterly segment's revenues were 12% on a y-o-y basis at $1.92 billion driven by higher sports advertising revenues, higher local political advertising spending at the television stations, higher retransmission consent revenues, higher content revenues at the FOX Broadcast Network, and revenues generated by the television stations to permit the commercial use of adjacent wireless spectrum in one of its markets.

Twenty-First Century Fox's Filmed Entertainment generated segment's OIBDA of $389 million in Q2 FY17, a 29% increase from the $302 million reported in Q2 FY16. The increase in OIBDA was driven primarily by increased contributions from the film studio reflecting lower theatrical releasing costs from a comparatively lower number of films released in the reported quarter, the worldwide theatrical and home entertainment performance of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and the worldwide home entertainment and pay television performance of Deadpool. The segments revenue declined $92 million to $2.27 billion, primarily reflecting lower worldwide theatrical revenues partially offset by higher television production revenues led by the subscription video-on demand licensing of various titles.

Items of Note

In December 2016, Twenty-First Century Fox announced that it has reached agreement with Sky, in which the Company currently has an approximate 39% interest. Under the terms of agreement, Twenty-First Century Fox has offered a price of £10.75 per Sky share, or approximately $15 billion for the fully diluted share capital of Sky, which the Company do not already own. The Acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and the approval of Sky's shareholders, and is expected to close on or before December 31, 2017.

Share repurchases

During Q2 FY17, Twenty-First Century Fox repurchased 4.8 million shares of Class A Common Stock for $132 million. As of the end of the quarter, the Company's remaining buyback authorization was $3.1 billion.

Dividends

Twenty-First Century Fox has declared a dividend of $0.18 per Class A and Class B share. The dividend declared is payable on April 19, 2017 with a record date for determining dividend entitlements of March 15, 2017.

Stock Performance

On Thursday, February 16, 2017, the stock closed the trading session at $30.51, slightly down 0.62% from its previous closing price of $30.70. A total volume of 4.29 million shares have exchanged hands. Twenty-First Century Fox Class A's stock price rallied 11.15% in the last three months, 20.66% in the past six months, and 17.09% in the previous twelve months. Moreover, the stock gained 8.81% since the start of the year. The Company's shares are trading at a PE ratio of 18.54 and have a dividend yield of 1.18%. At Thursday's closing price, the stock's net capitalization stands at $56.34 billion.

On the same day, Twenty-First Century Fox Class B's share price finished the trading session at $30.08, marginally declining 0.82%. A total volume of 1.98 million shares exchanged hands. The stock has surged 15.72% and 15.33% in the last six months and past twelve months, respectively. Furthermore, since the start of the year, shares of the Company have surged 10.39%. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 19.88 and has a dividend yield of 1.20%. The stock currently has a market cap of $24.02 billion.

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