Fox Revenue Accelerated as World Cup Lifted Advertising
Advertising revenue rose 78% to $1.916 billion as World Cup broadcasts boosted sales.
Fox Corporation (FOXA), the news, sports and entertainment company, reported a 28% rise in fourth-quarter revenue as World Cup advertising reversed the prior quarter’s contraction. Adjusted earnings increased to $1.79 a share from $1.27.
Revenue reached $4.212 billion, up from $3.994 billion in the third quarter, when sales had fallen 9% from a year earlier. The return to growth helped adjusted EBITDA climb 27% to a fiscal-year quarterly high of $1.195 billion, while its margin widened sequentially to about 28.4%.
Advertising supplied the turn. Revenue from the category increased 23% sequentially to $1.916 billion, driven primarily by the FIFA Men’s World Cup and continued growth at Tubi. In the preceding quarter, advertising had fallen 24% because the year-earlier period included Super Bowl LIX.
Television became the main growth engine, with segment revenue rising 45% to $2.482 billion and EBITDA more than doubling to $705 million. Television advertising climbed to $1.455 billion from $700 million on the World Cup, Tubi growth and higher political advertising, while distribution revenue was essentially unchanged.
Cable Network Programming revenue rose 9% to $1.670 billion, though EBITDA fell 3% to $728 million as World Cup rights amortization and production expenses absorbed the benefit. The segment’s EBITDA margin narrowed to about 43.6% from 48.8% a year earlier and about 50.8% in the third quarter.
Reported net income fell 3% to $696 million despite the revenue increase, while adjusted net income rose 32% to $765 million. For the full year, Fox posted records of $17.126 billion in revenue and $3.906 billion in adjusted EBITDA, even as FOX One launch costs and higher digital-content spending weighed on expenses.
Fox also agreed to acquire Roku for $160 a share, valuing the streaming-platform company at about $22 billion in enterprise value and adding access to more than 100 million streaming households globally. The deal followed a year in which Fox doubled share repurchases to $2.0 billion while operating cash flow fell 41% and its cash balance declined to $4.205 billion.