Ahead of its pending acquisition by Discovery Communications, Scripps Networks Interactive reported higher fourth-quarter profits.
Net income rose 26.5% to $65.9 million, or 50 cents per share, from $52.1 million, or 40 cents a share a year ago.
Revenue rose 7.6% to $956.1 million.
Related: Discovery Gets European OK to Acquire Scripps Networks
Discovery will report its earnings Tuesday morning.
Advertising revenues increased 5.7% to $678.1 million and distribution revenues were $244.3 million, up 10.5%.
Profit from the company’s U.S. networks rose to $338 million from $327 million. Revenues rose 3.8% to $758.7 million. U.S. ad revenues were up 1.3%.
Related: Scripps Networks Making New Shows for Facebook
“Scripps Networks Interactive finished a pivotal 2017 year with a strong fourth quarter, executing on our strategic objectives and delivering financially with record revenue and growing segment profit,” said CEO Ken Lowe. “We reached new consumers through the thousands of compelling experiences created by Scripps Lifestyle Studios. We invested in our core business as well as our fast-growing digital offerings, allowing us to capitalize on the popularity of our powerful lifestyle brands across the globe. And, of course, we announced our merger with Discovery Communications, creating an unmatched opportunity to deliver our real-life content to a greater number of audiences.”
Lowe said the company has momentum going into 2018, and its acquisition by Discovery.
“Our incredible teams remain intently focused on doing what we do best: creating great lifestyle content that connects with audiences through ideas, information and inspiration. We are excited about the prospects for the combination with Discovery and are diligently working toward finalizing the transaction to bring these two great companies together,” he said.
