AMC profits up
August 3, 2017
AMC Networks reported higher profits in the second quarter as revenues rose at its US cable networks. Q2 income rose 34 per cent to $103 million (86,8m), or from $77 million. Revenues rose 3.8 per cent to $711 million.
Operating income at the company’s national networks. Revenue rose 5.6 per cent to $605 million. Distribution revenue rose 7.8 per cent to $359 million. Advertising revenue was up 2.6 per cent to $245 million.
“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,” said CEO Josh Sapan. “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. 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.”
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 which it has just sold.