Earnings

Viacom blew away Wall Street estimates late Wed, announcing an increase in Q2 net profit by 27% to $416mln. Operating income increased 14% to $663.2mln. Total rev was up 24% to $2.85bln, which topped Reuters estimates of $2.53bln and sent shares soaring by nearly 4% in after-hours trading. Improved numbers stemmed largely from growth at Viacom’s cable programming properties, with cable-network segment rev up 8% to $1.75bln, including a 10% boost in domestic advertising rev to $969.1mln and an 11% increase in affiliate fees to $501.8mln. Viacom pres/CEO Tom Freston said the results came "despite a challenging cable advertising environment." He added that the company will continue executing an online and digital strategy "heavily focused on organic growth." — Disney can thank cable, theme parks and film for helping it to 3Q revenue of $8.6bln, up 12% from last year. Cable network sales climbed 12% to $2.2bln, while ABC provided a drag on profits. — QVC’s robust 2Q results included a 10% Y-over-Y rev increase to $1.63bln, a 17% jump in operating cash flow to $378mln and the passing of 91mln homes reached. "We demonstrated our pleasure [with the net] by repurchasing 19mln shares of stock in the quarter," Liberty chmn John Malone said. — Starz achieved a 2% rev uptick to $264mln, primarily due to a $14mln increase from a greater sub unit average for its services.