Time Warner Reports Mixed Q4 But Issues Better-Than-Expected Guidance

Shares of Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) were trading higher by around 1.50 percent early Wednesday morning after the company reported its fourth quarter results.

Time Warner earned $1.06 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $7.1 billion. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn $1.01 per share on revenue of $7.53 billion.

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Time Warner's quarterly revenue fell 6 percent from a year ago due to a decline at Warner Bros., partially offset by gains at Home Box Office and Turner. Adjusted Operating Income for the quarter fell 12 percent from a year ago to $1.4 billion and included a $173 million foreign currency charge related to assets denominated in Venezuelan currency.

Full-year revenue rose 3 percent from 2014 to $28.1 billion, while Adjusted Operating Income rose 19 percent to $6.9 billion due to lower programming chargers at Turner and restructuring and severance charges across the company.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes said: "We had another very successful year in 2015, demonstrating once again Time Warner's ability to deliver strong financial performance as well as creative and programming excellence. Revenues grew 3% and Adjusted Operating Income was up 19%. All three of our operating divisions increased revenue and profits while also investing to capitalize on the shift to on-demand viewing and growing worldwide demand for the very best video content."

Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Time Warner guided its earnings per share to a range of $5.30 to $5.40 - exceeding Wall Street's estimate of $5.26 per share.