CBS on Thursday raised its quarterly dividend to 18 cents per share from 15 cents announced in May.
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During the quarter, retransmission consent and reverse compensation grew 44% and remain on track to surpass $1 billion in revenue this year, he said.
Entertainment segment revenues (which include CBS Television Network, CBS Television Studios, CBS Global Distribution Group, CBS Interactive and CBS Films) rose 9% to $1.95 billion for the second quarter of 2016 compared with $1.79 billion for the same prior-year period.
Revenue for the local broadcasting unit, which runs the CBS TV stations it owns and CBS Radio, was down 1% to $647 million.
Over all, CBS reported a profit of $423 million, or 93 cents a share, up from $332 million, or 67 cents a share, a year earlier.
Ad sales fell 3% without the NCAA Tournament Finals, which it had a year ago.
In Q4 of 2015, the company achieved $3.9 billion in revenue, beating expectations of $3.79 billion for the best quarter in company history. The increase was due to restructuring activities put in place during 2015. “Our base business is very healthy, including our strongest upfront selling season in years, which will benefit us beginning in late September when the new higher pricing takes effect”.
In prepared remarks, Chairman and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said both of the over-the-top services continued to exceed expectations.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to invest first and foremost in premium content while using excess cash to return capital to our investors”. But it might not have a big impact on the stock at a time when investors are eager to hear about future developments including the upcoming Star Trek on CBS All Access, and the speculated possibility that it will re-merge with Viacom.
CBS has focused on boosting revenue from online subscription streaming services such as Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) and its own CBS All Access in order to rely less on advertising and attract younger viewers.
The broadcaster wound up Q2 with $423 million in net earnings, up 27.4% from the period past year, on revenues of $3.29 billion, up 2.1%.
Because of its many global TV distribution deals, as well as a major digital video deal with Netflix, Moonves says the new “Star Trek” series is now immediately profitable.
Still, CBS says there was 2% “underlying network advertising growth”.
Cable network revenues – Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, and Smithsonian Networks – was down 13% to $536 million.
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Read the company’s report here.
