Paramount Skydance said first-quarter profit rose despite shortfalls in the company’s largest business –traditional TV — as revenue dips from cable and broadcast were offset by growth in movie and TV production as well as subscriptions to Paramount+.
In a letter to shareholders Monday, the owner of CBS, Comedy Central and the Paramount movie studio said revenue in the first quarter rose to nearly $7.35 billion, compared with about $7.19 billion in the year-earlier period — a hike of about 2%. The company said Paramount+ added about 700,000 subscribers, and overall revenue from direct-to-consumer operations increased 11% to $2.4 billion. Revenue from the company’s studios rose 11% to $1.3 billion, due in part to the performance of “Scream 7” in theaters and some financial restructuring.
Still, revenue from Paramount’s TV business declined yet again, down 6% to $3.7 billion. Fees tied to advertising and distribution both fell 6%, due in part to international performance and audience erosion.
Paramount said first-quarter profit came to $168 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with net $152 million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items tied to the transaction that put the former Paramount assets under the control of Skydance, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 23 cents.
Paramount is “making meaningful progress,” CEO David Ellison said in the letter to shareholders, nodding to what he called “strong financial results while simultaneously managing an industry-shifting transaction.”
Paramount is seeking regulatory approval to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. Discovery, a transaction that, if completed, would put HBO and CNN under its corporate umbrella. The deal was approved by Warner shareholders in April.
Paramount said it was “making great progress on our plan to close the transaction by the end of Q3’26.”
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The company said it intended to move its free ad-supported outlet Pluto to its Paramount+ tech platform this summer, a move that it expected to offer a better user experience to Pluto visitors and improve the environment for advertisers.
More to come….
From Variety US