NEW YORK (AP) — Time Warner, owner of HBO, CNN, and Warner Bros., said Wednesday that its second-quarter net income jumped 87 percent, boosted by better results at its film and TV businesses.
The results beat Wall Street predictions and the New York company boosted its full-year profit outlook. Its shares rose 3 percent in premarket trading.
Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes credited the company's investments in quality programing at its Turner and HBO networks with helping to draw in viewers, advertisers and affiliates. Revenue at the company's networks division increased 7 percent to $3.84 billion.
Bewkes noted that Time Warner's TNT and TBS networks ended the quarter as two of the top advertising-supported networks for viewers between the ages of 18 to 49, helped by shows such as "Falling Skies," ''Major Crimes" and "CougarTown," along with another strong NBA playoff season.
In addition, ratings at CNN jumped 70 percent among its target audience and HBO viewership remained strong, helped by its popular "Game of Thrones" series and the Liberace biopic "Behind the Candelabra," Bewkes said.
Meanwhile, revenue at the company's Warner Bros. film and TV entertainment division increased 13 percent to $2.94 billion on strong ticket sales for "Man of Steel," ''The Hangover Part III" and "The Great Gatsby."
Those gains more than offset losses more than offset lower profit at the company's publishing division. Time Warner plans to spin off its ailing Time Inc. magazine unit by the end of this year. Revenue at the publishing division fell 3 percent to $833 million on both lower subscription and advertising sales.
For the April-June period, Time Warner Inc. earned $771 million, or 81 cents per share. That's up from $413 million, or 42 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding items, the company earned an adjusted 83 cents per share for the recent quarter.
Analysts expected 76 cents per share.
Revenue rose 10 percent to $7.44 billion from $6.74 billion. Analysts expected $7.11 billion in revenue.
For the full year, the company says it now expects to post an earnings-per-share percentage increase in the "mid-teens."
Its shares rose $2.12, or 3.3 percent, to $66.20 in premarket trading about an hour before the market opening.