AMC Networks reported higher profits in the second quarter as revenue rose at its domestic cable networks.
Second-quarter net income rose 34% to $103 million, or $1.54 a share, from $77 million, or $1.05 a share. Revenue rose 3.8% to $711 million.
While revenue was lower than expected, the earnings topped Wall Street forecasts.
“Our financial and operating performance in the second quarter and for the year, thus far, has been strong, and we remain on track to deliver on our full-year total company outlook,” CEO Josh Sapan said.
“The success of our long-term focus on investing in marquee content and in distinctive, vibrant brands that attract passionate and engaged fans is reinforced by our wide distribution on new virtual MVPDs, including most recently YouTube TV,” Sapan said. “We continue to partner with our traditional distributors on innovative initiatives that support the cable ecosystem, including our new AMC Premiere offering to Comcast Xfinity TV customers and our AMC Studios co-production partnership with Charter.”
Operating income at the company’s national networks, including AMC, SundanceTV, IFC and BBC America, was up 11.9% to $211.6 million. Revenue rose 5.6% to $605 million. Distribution revenue rose 7.8% to $359 million. Advertising revenue was up 2.6% to $245 million.
Losses at the company’ s international operations grew to $31 million from $8 million a year ago.
The second-quarter results include the impact of impairment charges of $17 million related to AMCNI-DMC, the company’s Amsterdam-based media-logistics facility.
