CBS CBS Corp

By Joe Flint and Imani Moise 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (February 16, 2018).

CBS Corp.'s revenue rose 11% in the fourth quarter as the media company pulled in more money from pay-TV distributors, content licensing and its own direct-to-consumer streaming services.

The content gains were more than enough to overcome a slight decline in advertising revenue from the same period a year ago, which was particularly strong due to the 2016 presidential election.

CBS's two direct-to-consumer services -- CBS All Access and Showtime OTT -- have reached nearly five million customers and are on target for eight million in 2020, CBS Chairman and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said on a call with analysts. In addition, revenue from traditional cable and satellite distributors has "more room to grow," he said.

"The strength of our premium content gives us a clear path ahead," Mr. Moonves said. He forecast that 2018 would be "the greatest financial performance by far in our company's history."

While Mr. Moonves expressed optimism for CBS's future, a potential combination with Viacom Inc. is back on the table. Earlier this month, the boards of both companies formed special committees to evaluate a potential merger at the urging of their controlling shareholder.

Both CBS and Viacom are controlled by National Amusements Inc., the holding company of media mogul Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone.

Ms. Redstone, president of National Amusements and vice chair of both CBS and Viacom, is eager to put the two companies back together to give them greater scale to compete with bigger rivals. She attempted to do so in 2016 but was met with resistance from Mr. Moonves.

CBS declined to discuss Viacom on its earning call.

Earlier this month, Viacom reported a deeper-than-expected revenue decline and falling adjusted profit for its fiscal first quarter.

CBS said Thursday that its fourth-quarter results were hurt by a $129 million charge related to the recently enacted tax overhaul. Overall, CBS's quarterly loss narrowed to $41 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a loss of $113 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company reported a per-share profit of $1.20, up from $1.11.

Revenue rose 11% to $3.92 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of $1.14 a share on sales of $3.7 billion.

Affiliate and subscription fees, which include revenue from streaming services and traditional bundles, rose 20% during the quarter, while advertising revenue fell 2.8%.

Content licensing and distribution revenue increased 33%, driven by strong growth from domestic and international licensing sales.

The company also gave an upbeat sales outlook for 2018, forecasting revenue growth in the high single digits, above the 4.5% predicted by analysts. The company said it expects per-share earnings to rise in the high teens. Analyst consensus for earnings growth is 18%.

Shares rose 0.7% in after-hours trading. The stock has fallen 13% over the past year.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com and Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 16, 2018 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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