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CBS Corp. Q1 Revenue Down 4.6%, But Radio Up 2%
May 8, 2014 at 3:16 PM (PT)
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CBS CORP. reported a Q1 2014 revenue decline 4.6% to $3.86 billion, primarily attributable to not having SUPER BOWL revenue this year. Local Broadcasting revenues for the first quarter of 2014 decreased 2% to $626 million; however, CBS Radio revenues increased 2%.
Local Broadcasting OIBDA for the first quarter of 2014 increased 1% to $200 million from $199 million for the same prior-year period, as lower programming costs, mainly for sports, more than offset the decline in revenues.
"CBS remains focused on its core strategy -- creating and distributing the best content, and monetizing it across multiple platforms," CBS Corp. Exec. Chairman SUMNER REDSTONE said. "This winning business model is generating healthy profits today, and I'm confident it will continue to do so well into the future. I'm more excited than ever about the growth prospects before us and about all that Leslie and his team are achieving quarter after quarter."
"I'm very pleased to be reporting record first quarter profits, driven once again by our fast-growing, higher-margin revenue streams," Pres./CEO LESLIE MOONVES added. "Thanks to the strength of our base business, as well as new opportunities to monetize our content, our momentum continues to build. And we are confident we are still in the early innings of our terrific growth story. Next week, we will launch a whole new set of content franchises when we unveil our fall schedule to advertisers. Plus, we have several exciting additions to our overall programming lineup with an expanded new schedule this summer and THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL this fall. As we continue to grow CBS as a content company, we also recently took a dramatic step forward when we successfully completed the IPO of CBS Outdoor, which subsequently obtained a favorable REIT ruling from the IRS. The separation of this business will bring us that much closer to achieving our goal of becoming a pure content company and, at current market prices, puts us on track to return about $6 billion of value to shareholders in 2014. Looking ahead, with even stronger programming to sell to advertisers, political spending heating up later this year, and new deals coming down the pike in retransmission consent and reverse compensation, we see the back half of 2014 even stronger than the first -- and we are positioned for another record year."
Operating income before depreciation and amortization ("OIBDA") of $930 million and operating income of $818 million for the first quarter of 2014 were each up 2% from the same prior-year period as increases in higher-margin revenues more than overcame the absence of the 2013 SUPER BOWL broadcast.
Net earnings from continuing operations were $468 million for the first quarter of 2014, or $.78 per diluted share, compared with $463 million, or $.73 per diluted share, for the same prior-year period. Net earnings for the first quarter of 2014 included interest expense of $12 million ($7 million, net of tax), or $.01 per diluted share, from the $1.6 billion that our outdoor subsidiary, CBS Outdoor Americas Inc. ("CBS Outdoor"), borrowed during the first quarter of 2014. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations rose 7%, primarily driven by the operating income growth as well as lower weighted average shares outstanding as a result of the Company's ongoing share repurchases.

