Time Warner picks up a boost from HBO’s Game of Thrones and Turner Broadcasting, sending the share price higher
US media giant Time Warner, which counts channels HBO and CNN as assets, has posted slightly better-than-expected revenue figures for the first quarter, up 2.5 per cent year-on-year.
Time Warner's cable channel Home Box Office (HBO), that last month began airing the latest instalment of the popular Game of Thrones series, and its Turner Broadcasting unit both pulled in a hefty rise in revenue.
The company's shares jumped three per cent after the opening in New York.
Read more: Play your own Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland
Revenue at HBO rose 7.7 per cent in the quarter to to $1.51bn, while Turner, owner of the CNN, Cartoon Network, and TNT channels, recorded a 7.2 per cent rise in revenue in the first quarter, pushed on by a ratings rise at CNN as interest builds around the US presidential election.
Time Warner last year launched a stand-alone streaming service, HBO Now to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu, which have grown rapidly in recent years.
Net income at Time Warner rose to $1.21bn, or $1.51 per share, in the quarter, up from $970m, or $1.15 per share, a year earlier, while revenue ticked up to $7.31bn from $7.13bn.
A poll of Reuters analysts expected a profit of $1.30 per share on revenue of $7.30bn.
Read more: Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer among London Marathon runners
Time Warner also reiterated its earnings outlook for the full year.
Gains in the Turner and HBO managed to offset a 2.8 per cent sales decline at the company's film division Warner Bros, despite the much-anticipated Batman Vs Superman pulling in $852.3m at the box office.
The company attributed the decline partly to adverse exchange rates.