Liberty Media Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2012 Financial Results

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Media Corporation (Liberty Media) (Nasdaq: LMCA, LMCB) today reported fourth quarter and year end 2012 results. Highlights include(1):

We were pleased to receive approval from the FCC for de jure control of SiriusXM and subsequently increased our ownership interest above 50%, said Greg Maffei President and CEO of Liberty Media. SiriusXM again posted strong results and ended the year with almost 24 million subscribers. We increased our ownership stake in Live Nation and are encouraged by the growth in their ticket sales for 2013. At Barnes & Noble, we were pleased by the strategic investment by Pearson in NOOK Media.

Liberty Media

On January 11, 2013 Liberty Media was spun-off from Starz. The financials as of December 31, 2012 include the financial results of Starz. Liberty will present Starz as discontinued operations when reporting results in the first quarter of 2013. Pro forma, Liberty Media had $1.8 billion in cash and no debt at the time of the spin-off.

Liberty Medias revenue decreased 52% to $467 million in the fourth quarter and 34% to $2 billion for the year. Adjusted OIBDA decreased 76% to $77 million for the quarter and 58% to $450 million for the year. Operating income decreased 91% to $25 million for the quarter and 66% to $326 million for the year. The decrease in revenue, adjusted OIBDA and operating income was primarily related to a one-time recognition of deferred revenue and costs at TruePosition in the prior year.

Starz, LLC

Starzs revenue decreased 2% to $423 million for the fourth quarter and increased 1% to $1.6 billion for the year. The decrease in revenue for the fourth quarter was primarily a result of a decrease in Starz Distribution revenue due to fewer titles available from The Weinstein Company and a decrease in revenue from Starz Networks primarily due to the non-renewal of the Netflix agreement. The increase in revenue for the year was primarily as a result of increases in revenue from the Starz Distribution and Starz Networks businesses which were partially offset by a decrease in revenue for the Starz Animation business.

Adjusted OIBDA increased 10% to $102 million for the fourth quarter and decreased 1% to $445 million for the year. The increase in adjusted OIBDA for the fourth quarter was primarily due to fewer exhibitions at Starz Networks of first-run (first window) films and higher utilization of second window films licensed under our output agreements with Disney and Sony and decreased advertising and marketing costs associated with original programming. Starz Networks did not have a new original series premiere during the fourth quarter of 2012, while the first season of the original series Boss premiered in October 2011. Starz Networks increase was partially offset by increased production and acquisition costs at Starz Distribution due to revisions made to ultimate revenue estimates which resulted in impairments to capitalized production and acquisition costs for certain titles.

The decrease in adjusted OIBDA for the year was primarily due to increased production and acquisition costs at Starz Distribution resulting from the revisions made in the fourth quarter to the ultimate revenue estimates as mentioned above. This decrease in adjusted OIBDA was partially offset by lower advertising and marketing costs at Starz Networks resulting from one fewer Starz original series premiere during 2012. Starz Networks had three new original series or new season premieres in 2012 as compared to four in 2011. Consolidated Eliminations also contributed to the decrease due to fewer exhibitions of Overture Films titles on Starz Networks during 2012. Operating income was flat for the fourth quarter and decreased 4% to $406 million for the year.

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Liberty Media Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2012 Financial Results

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