Fox Sees Q1 Revenue Grow, But Higher Expenses Cut Profit

Fox Corporation said profit in its first fiscal quarter fell due to higher operating expenses, even as overall revenue rose 5% or $174 million, tied to increased cash from advertising and distribution.

The owner of Fox News Channel, Fox Sports and the Fox broadcasting network said net income attributable top shareholders came to $599 million, or $1.32 per share, compared with $827 million, or $1.78 per share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted for one-time items, first quarter profit came to $1.51
per share. The company also said its Tubi ad-supported streaming service became profitable in the quarter, faster than previously anticipated.

Fox said it saw higher expenses during the period tied to increases in digital marketing and content costs and entertainment programming rights amortization.

“We are delivering for audiences with continued engagement growth across the portfolio which underpins the robust advertising demand we are seeing across sports, news, entertainment and Tubi,” said Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, in a statement.

Fox has thrived during a difficult period for media companies by focusing largely on news and sports, two TV formats that continue to attract the large, live audiences that advertisers crave When it comes to streaming, Fox has focused the bulk of its resources on Tubi, which is free and ad-supported and has not required the billions of dollars for new, premium content that subscription-based rivals have. Fox earlier this year launched a subscription streamer, Fox One, that features the programming it offers on its TV networks — but for cord-cutters who do not have a subscription to a cable or satellite service.

Fox said revenue rose 4%, or $65 million, from its cable operations, with distribution revenue up 3%, to $28 million. Advertising revenue rose 7%, or $24 million, due to higher prices for news programming.

The company’s linear TV operations saw revenue rise 5% ,or $97 million. Advertising revenue rose 6%, or $59 million, tied to Tubi and the NFL. Distribution revenue rose $15 million or 2%.

More to come….