Fox reports higher profit, insists no deals in the works
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, the film and TV company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, reported a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street’s expectations as executives stressed that they would not make a new bid for Time Warner Inc.
Fox on Tuesday withdrew the $80 billion offer that Time Warner had rejected. On Wednesday, Murdoch made a rare appearance on Fox’s quarterly earnings call and reinforced that he had ended his pursuit of the rival company.
Despite Fox’s announcement on Tuesday that it would no longer pursue a deal with Time Warner, some investors questioned whether the move might be a ploy to drive down the Time Warner stock price and open the way for another bid by Murdoch at a later time.
Fox’s cable network business, its largest, saw its earnings rise 11% to $1.2 billion, boosted by higher advertising sales and an increase in subscriptions to regional sports channels. Domestic advertising revenue grew 12%.
Source: reuters
