CBS Q2 Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - CBS Corp. (CBS, CBS-A) Wednesday reported an increase in profit for the second quarter, as revenues climbed 11 percent reflecting digital streaming agreements and international syndication.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said, "Double-digit revenue growth—and the best quarterly profits we've ever had—add up to a phenomenal quarter for CBS. Across the board, CBS's world-class content continues to drive our results."

CBS said its profit for the second quarter improved to $472 million or $0.78 per share from $427 million or $0.66 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.72 per share for the quarter. Analysts estimates typically exclude unusual items.

The New York-based company's revenues for the quarter grew 11 percent to $3.70 billion from $3.33 billion in the same prior-year period. Analysts estimated revenues of $3.52 billion for the quarter.

CBS said revenue growth was led by a 22 percent increase in content licensing and distribution revenues, which were driven by licensing agreements for digital streaming and international syndication.

Advertising revenues were up 5 percent attributed to the NCAA men's basketball championship aired during the quarter, later than the first quarter in 2012.

CBS, which is one of the most popular television networks in the U.S., has been expanding its non-advertising revenues, by demanding higher fees from cable networks to transmit its programs to subscribers. The media giant is currently in a fee dispute with Time Warner Cable (TWC) Inc.

Negotiations between Time Warner Cable and CBS are still continuing, to settle the dispute of significantly hiked program fees demanded by CBS. CBS wants Time Warner Cable to pay 600 percent more to buy CBS programming directly from them in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

Affiliate and subscription fee revenues rose 18 percent, reflecting the impact of a pay-per-view boxing event, and growth from retransmission revenues and fees from CBS Television Network affiliated television stations.

CBS closed Wednesday's trading at $52.84, up $0.51 or 0.97%, on the NYSE. The stock further gained $0.56 or 1.06% in after hours trade. Trading volume for the day was 6.4 million shares, above the three-month average volume.