Media company Warner Bros. Discovery has released fourth-quarter numbers. Both sales and profits remained below experts' forecasts.
$5.4 million of debt settled
“Having implemented our strategic plan to reposition the company, we are now on solid footing and on a clear growth path,” CEO and president David Zaslav said, according to a news release. As CNBC writes, Zaslav saw increasing free cash flow and reducing debt as a priority.
The company paid $5.4 billion (€4.9 billion) of debt in 2023 and $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter. Overall, Warner Bros. Discovery generated free cash flow of $6.2 billion last year, up 86 percent from 2022, according to CNBC.
Loss per share of $0.16
Sales in the fourth quarter amounted to about 10.28 billion dollars (9.4 billion euros). Taking into account currency effects, this corresponds to a decrease of seven percent compared to the same period last year, as reported by the company. Analysts were expecting $10.35 billion, according to CNBC. Loss per share was forecast at $0.07, but ended up at $0.16. The net loss was $400 million.
The Max streaming service made a profit (EBITDA) of $103 million (€95.1 million) in 2023. It is the first time that Max has made a profit, according to CNBC.
As “Market Watch” reports, shares of Warner Bros. Discovery fell nearly nine percent in premarket trading after the numbers were released. Consequently, strikes by authors and actors had a negative impact on the company, as did weak advertising revenue.