CBS Corp., owner of the most-watched U.S. television network, posted fourth-quarter results that missed analysts’ estimates as online licensing fees declined. The company announced a $1 billion stock buyback.
Net income increased 6.2 percent to $393 million, or 60 cents a share, from $370 million, or 55 cents, a year ago, New York-based CBS said Thursday in a statement. Excluding items, profit of 64 cents missed the 69-cent average of 27 analysts’ estimates.
A decline in sales from online streaming of shows from a year ago countered higher advertising and retransmission revenue, the company said. Record advertising during the 2012 political campaigns lifted results at TV and radio stations.
Sales increased 2.4 percent to $3.7 billion from $3.78 billion a year earlier, missing the $3.85 billion average of analysts’ estimates.
CBS, controlled by Chairman Sumner Redstone, fell 1.1 percent to $42.48 in extended trading after the announcement. The stock rose 0.6 percent to $42.94 at the close in New York and advanced 40 percent last year.
The company announced plans in January to convert its outdoor advertising unit into a real estate investment trust and seek a buyer for the European and Asian parts of that business. The stock rose 9.7 percent last month.
The conversion could be finished in the 2014 tax year, CBS said at the time. The European and Asian businesses will be classified as discontinued operations as of Dec. 31, 2012.
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