Discovery Q2 net income up by 15% to $293 mn

MUMBAI: Discovery has reported a seven per cent jump in its revenue to $1.14 billion for the fiscal second quarter ended 30 June 2012.

Adjusted OIBDA increased by six per cent to $543 million, while net income rose 15 per cent to $293 million.

Discovery president, CEO David Zaslav said, ?Discovery?s consistent focus on investing in our global platform, building new brands and developing additional growth opportunities resulted in continued strong operating results during the second quarter. The steps we have taken to broaden our international content offerings, along with the continued evolution of pay-tv globally, are driving international expansion, while domestically we are generating significant returns from the sustained programming initiatives and audience growth across our younger networks."

The rise in revenue was led by six per cent growth at US Networks and 10 per cent growth at International Networks.

Adjusted Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (1) (?OIBDA?) grew six per cent to $543 million, driven by an eight per cent increase at US Networks and a two per cent increase at International Networks. Excluding the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, total company revenues increased 10 per cent and Adjusted OIBDA increased by 11 per cent.

Second quarter net income available to Discovery stockholders of $293 million increased by $39 million compared to $254 million for the second quarter a year ago, primarily due to strong operating performance in the current year and lower taxes primarily due to a re-organisation of certain operations partially offset by the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

Free cash flow was $138 million for the second quarter, a decrease of $60 million from the second quarter of 2011, as increased operating performance was more than offset by higher content investment and increased tax payments versus a year ago. For the last 12 months, free cash flow increased by five per cent over the previous twelve month period. Free cash flow is defined as cash provided by operating activities less acquisitions of property and equipment.