By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Paramount Global posted second-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street estimates on Thursday as the company prepares for a sale to Skydance Media.
Shares of Paramount rose 0.2% in after-hours trading to $12.60.
The owner of the CBS broadcast network, a film studio and several cable channels reported adjusted earnings-per-share of 46 cents for April through June. Analysts had predicted 36 cents per share, according to LSEG estimates.
Revenue rose 1% from a year earlier to $6.85 billion, edging the analyst consensus of $6.84 billion.
Subscription revenue growth at the Paramount+ streaming service helped boost affiliate and subscription revenue, Paramount said in its earnings report. The drama series “MobLand” attracted viewers during the quarter, the company said.
Total Paramount+ subscribers, however, dropped by 1.3 million to 77.7 million. The company said the decrease was primarily related to the expiration of a bundle deal in Europe. Price increases drove higher revenue.
The Paramount Pictures film studio had a hit during the quarter with “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”
The $8.4 billion sale of Paramount to Skydance is expected to close by Aug. 7. The U.S. government cleared the final hurdle to the deal last week.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
