Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday posted a big loss and recorded about $11.1 billion in fourth quarter income, lacking analysts’ estimates, because the media business contends with a tender promoting market. 

The corporate’s TV networks section – which incorporates cable-TV channels like TNT, TBS and Discovery – decreased 6% to roughly $5.5 billion, as promoting income took a drop particularly.

Here is what the corporate reported, vs. what analysts’ estimates, based on Refinitiv:

• Income: $11.01 billion vs. $11.36 billion anticipated
• Loss per share: 86 cents vs. 21 cents

he firm reported a lack of $2.1 billion for the interval, or 86 cents per share. Warner Bros. Discovery shares fell after hours.

Warner Bros. Discovery executives started warning of a worsening promoting market final summer season, and different media firms, together with Paramount World, have seen it weigh on their earnings.

The corporate has been contending with restructuring prices and impairment costs stemming from the 2022 merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, whereas making an attempt to push its streaming enterprise towards profitability. 

The corporate ended the fourth quarter with $45.5 billion in debt on its steadiness sheet, and $3.9 billion in money available. A significant focus for Warner Bros. Discovery has been decreasing its hefty debt load and slicing prices.

“With the main restructuring choices behind us, this yr we’re targeted on constructing and rising our companies for the longer term, and we’re off to a terrific begin,” CEO David Zaslav stated within the firm’s earnings launch Thursday. 

The corporate, which owns streaming companies HBO Max and Discovery+, stated its international direct-to-consumer streaming subscriber base elevated by 1.1 million to 96.1 million by the top of the quarter. 

Income for the streaming section was up 6%, the corporate stated Thursday, pushed by an uptick in subscriber development for its ad-supported tiers.

Losses for its streaming section narrowed, the corporate stated. It posted a lack of $217 million for the interval, “a $511 million year-over-year enchancment,” it added. 

Warner Bros. Discovery reported continued softness within the promoting market, which has been weighing on its income since final summer season, when executives first warned of a slowdown in advert spending. Final week, Paramount World reported a lower in quarterly income on account of decrease advert spending.

The corporate’s community TV section was significantly affected as main sporting occasions together with faculty soccer and the lads’s World Cup befell on different networks through the fourth quarter.

In the meantime, the corporate noticed a 23% drop in income for its studios section, noting it had decrease TV licensing offers and fewer theatrical releases. The DC Comics movie “Black Adam” was launched within the fourth quarter final yr, in contrast with a number of releases together with “Dune,” “The Matrix Resurrections,” “King Richard” and “The Many Saints of Newark” in the identical interval through the earlier yr.

It is a creating story. Verify again for updates.