Slide in Fox earnings in line with forecasts
21st Century Fox reported a sharp drop in profits in the past quarter, largely in line with forecasts for Rupert Murdoch's media-entertainment conglomerate.
The company said earnings in the quarter to December 31 slumped 89 percent to $672 million, compared with a $6.2 billion profit a year earlier that was largely the result of a one-time sale of assets.
Revenues for the group that operates the Fox studios in Hollywood and a range of television operations were down one percent from a year earlier to $7.38 billion, below the consensus forecast of $7.51 billion.
The drop in revenues came as a result of weaker performance from the filmed entertainment unit and currency impact, offset in part by improvements in cable and broadcast television.
"During the quarter, our cable business continued to drive our growth, delivering sustained increases in domestic affiliate fees and gains in advertising revenue, underscoring the power of our global brands and distinctive programming," said a statement from Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan.
"In addition, we are encouraged by progress at the Fox Broadcast Network, which delivered significant advertising gains from both our sports and entertainment programming."
The latest results excluded revenues from the production unit called Shine Group, which was merged into a joint venture to focus on reality TV shows.
Fox did get a boost from revenues from sports programming as well as from Fox News. On the film side, the past quarter delivered lower results than the 2014 hits that included "X-Men: Days of Futures Past" and "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."
Murdoch in 2013 split his corporate empire into two separate firms, 21st Century Fox and News Corp, which kept the newspapers and other publishing assets that had been a drag on earnings.
He remains in control of both firms but has gradually begun to exit from operations. Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch share the title of executive chairman at both Fox and News Corp.
Rupert Murdoch named his other son James as chief executive at Fox last year.