Time Warner Q4 Profit Falls, Hikes Dividend;sees 2015 Adj. EPS In Line With View

(RTTNews) - Time Warner Inc. (WX) reported that its fourth-quarter net income attributable to shareholders declined to $718 million from the previous year's $983 million, with earnings per share declining to $0.84 from $1.06 in the prior year.

Adjusted earnings per share were $0.98 compared to $1.07 in last year's fourth quarter. The decrease in Adjusted earnings per share primarily reflects lower Adjusted Operating Income and higher taxes, offset in part by fewer shares outstanding. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.93 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Excluding the programming charges at Turner and restructuring and severance charges, adjusted earnings per share would have been $1.14.

Revenues for the quarter dropped to $7.53 billion from last year's $7.60 billion, due to declines at Warner Bros., partially offset by increases at Home Box Office and Turner. Wall Street expected revenues of $7.55 billion for the quarter.

Time Warner said that its Board of Directors has approved a ten percent increase in the Company's regular quarterly cash dividend. On an annual basis, Time Warner's regular cash dividend on its Common Stock will grow from $1.27 per share to $1.40 per share. The Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per share on its Common Stock, payable in cash on March 15, 2015 to stockholders of record on February 28, 2015.

Time Warner expects its 2015 full-year Adjusted Income per Common Share from Continuing Operations to be in the range of $4.60 to $4.70. Analysts expect annual earnings of $4.66 per share.