BENGALURU: Time Warner Inc., (Time Warner) reported 2.5 percent growth in revenues for the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (current quarter, Q1-16) at $7,308 million as compared to the $7,127 million in Q1-15. Revenues increased due to growth at Turner and Home Box Office, partially offset by a decline at Warner Bros.
Total Operating Income increased 11.8 percent year-on-year in the current quarter to $1,996 million as compared to $1,786 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Time Warner chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Bewkes said, ““We’re off to a terrific start to 2016, as we benefit from the investments we’ve been making in great content and new capabilities in order to take advantage of the growing demand for high-quality video content around the world. Revenues increased 3 percent and Adjusted Operating Income grew 11 percent to a quarterly record of $2 billion due to strong growth across all our operating divisions. In the past several weeks, we’ve seen Warner Bros. release its latest global hit in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, setting the stage for what we expect to be a big year in film, with upcoming releases including Suicide Squad and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In television, Warner Bros. continued to show its strength with three of the top five new shows on broadcast television this season among adults 18-49 and a record 21 renewals ahead of the upfront this year.”
Bewkes continued, “Turner aired cable’s first ever NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship game, and Turner and CBS entered into an agreement with the NCAA to extend their television, digital and marketing rights to the NCAA tournament through 2032. TBS ended the quarter as the #1 ad-supported cable network in primetime among adults 18-49 and its repositioning as cable’s premier network for young, fresh comedy is underway with the introduction of new programming including Angie Tribeca, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and The Detour, the biggest new comedy on cable this year. With its must-watch coverage of the US presidential campaign, CNN continued to build on its success by more than doubling its primetime audience in the quarter. Meanwhile, HBO continued to make strides both inside and outside the traditional TV ecosystem, including expanding its OTT reach to new platforms and new international territories. And, more recently, HBO’s epic series Game of Thrones returned to record premiere night viewership. Further demonstrating our commitment to shareholder returns, we returned close to $1.3 billion to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends year-to-date.”
Turner
Turner reported 7.2 percent YoY growth in revenues in the current quarter at $2,906 million as compared to $2,710 million. The segment reported 11.8 percent YoY increase in operating to $1,239 million from $1,108 million.
Revenues increased due to increases of 11 percent ($143 million) in subscription revenues and 5 percent ($56 million) in advertising revenues. Turner says subscription revenues increased due to higher domestic rates and local currency growth at Turner’s international networks, partially offset by the impact of foreign exchange rates and lower domestic subscribers. Advertising revenues benefited from domestic growth, primarily due to Turner’s news business, and local currency growth at Turner’s international networks, partially offset by the impact of foreign exchange rates.
Home Box Office
HBO reported YoY increase in revenues to $1,506 million in Q1-16 from $1,398 million in Q1-15. HBO operating income increased 4.1 percent to $477 million in the current quarter from $458 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.
Revenues increased due to increases of 5 percent ($57 million) in subscription revenues and 23 percent ($51 million) in content and other revenues. Subscription revenues grew primarily due to higher domestic rates and subscribers. The increase in content and other revenues primarily reflected higher international licensing revenues, partially offset by lower home entertainment revenues.
Warner Bros,
Warner Bros. reported 2.8 percent YoY decline in revenues Q1-16 to $3,109 million from $3,199 million in Q1-15. Despite drop in revenue, Operating Income from the segment increased 30.9 percent in Q1-16 to $424 million from $324 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.
Revenues decreased mainly due to lower theatrical revenues, partially offset by higher television and videogames revenues. Theatrical revenues declined as the prior year quarter included revenues from American Sniper and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies compared to the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice late in the current year quarter. Television revenues increased primarily due to higher international licensing revenues and higher initial telecast revenues. The increase in videogames was mainly due to Warner Bros. LEGO and Mortal Kombat franchises.
