Starz quarterly earnings rose Friday beating analysts estimates, as the cable company added more than a million subscribers to its rolls.
The premium cable and satellite company posted $73.3 million, or 63 cents per share for the three month period ending in December, compared with $51.6 million, or 43 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue dropped 2 percent to $414.7 million, compared to $422.2 million in the same period a year ago, which Starz attributed to fewer new releases during the quarter.
Also read: Starz’ ‘Black Sails’ Creators Explain Why ‘We Don’t Like to Use the Word ‘Pirates”
Wall Street had expected earnings of 45 cents per share and revenue of $430 million for the quarter.
Starz now has 22.2 million subscribers and 57.1 million overall subscriptions across its channels, which include Encore. The company spun off from Liberty Media last year. Its original series include “Da Vinci’s Demons” and the recent release “Black Sails,” which CEO Christ Albrecht said enjoyed the strongest ever debut for an original series on the network in the United States.
For the fiscal year, revenue increased 9 percent to $1.8 billion, while net income fell less than 1 percent to $249.8 million.