Versant Media announced quarterly results on Tuesday, with profits exceeding expectations, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance for 2026, stating that its business portfolio performed strongly overall and platform revenue saw growth.
The media company stated that revenue from digital platforms amounted to $245 million, which includes Fandango, representing a nearly 10% increase compared to the same period last year. Versant mentioned that ticket sales revenue in the third quarter of Fandango "significantly increased," reaching the highest level since the outbreak of the pandemic.
However, advertising revenue dropped to $373 million in that quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 5.3%. The company attributed this mainly to the impact of the Ryder Cup last year.
The business portfolio of Versant includes CNBC, MS NOW, Golf Channel, as well as other wired and digital assets.
The following is a comparison of the company's third-quarter performance with the Wall Street expectations derived from an analyst survey conducted by LSEG.
- Earnings per share: 34 cents, versus an expected 5 cents.
- Revenues: $1.59 billion; it is not yet clear how this figure compares to the expected $1.57 billion.
Versant completed four major distribution renewals this year, after the company had previously split off from Comcast's NBCUniversal.
CEO Mark Lazarus stated in the declaration: "We are building deeper relationships with consumers, expanding our reach, and creating new growth and monetization opportunities in our four core markets."
Versant indicates that in the third quarter, its platform reached over 120 million viewers per month, with overall ratings increasing by double digits year-on-year. The company also launched MS NOW products directly for consumers, as well as Fandango on-demand products, as new drivers of growth. Versant suggests that CNBC is expected to launch products directly for consumers next year.
For the quarter ending September 30, Versant recorded a net profit of $47 million, or 34 cents per share; in the same period last year, it was $80 million, or 56 cents per share.
According to StreetAccount data, the adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to 353 million US dollars, which is higher than Wall Street's forecast of 305 million US dollars.
Revenues decreased slightly from $1.66 billion in the same period last year to $1.59 billion. The company stated that this revenue figure includes the impact of the acquisition of the golf simulation company Full Swing and the sale of the sports management software company SportsEngine.
The company reaffirmed its annual revenue forecast to be between $6.2 billion and $6.45 billion, with the adjusted EBITDA forecast now at between $1.9 billion and $2.05 billion. The company also revised some of its annual guidance, stating that it currently expects free cash flow to exceed the previous range of $1 billion to $1.2 billion.
After being spun off from Comcast in January, Versant began trading on NASDAQ as an independent company. Although the company was initially composed mainly of cable television networks, Versant executives stated that they plan to diversify the company's revenue structure, with the ultimate goal of having 50% of revenue coming from digital, platform, subscription, advertising, and transaction services.
In the third quarter, linear television revenue declined by 5.8% to $935 million, due to the ongoing pressure on this business from the trend of cutting lines and a decline in subscription users.
Live sports remain an important driving force for the company. Versant indicates that in the third quarter, there was “strong audience engagement,” and the WNBA ratings on its USA Sports platform were 25% higher than the average level of cable television last year.
Versant also announced that it will launch an additional $100 million acceleration stock repurchase plan starting from Wednesday. The company expects to complete this transaction in the fourth quarter.
Disclosure:Versant Media is the parent company of CNBC.
