Televisa Lags on Q1 Earnings and Revs - Analyst Blog

Grupo Televisa S.A.B. TV reported disappointing financial results for the first quarter of 2014. Net income was approximately $66 million, down 20.2% year over year. Earnings per Global Depository Shares (GDS) were 11 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 13 cents.

Quarterly consolidated net revenue of around $1,303.4 million improved 9% over the prior-year quarter. However, the figure significantly fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,449 million.

Gross margin came in at 42.5% compared with 42.1% in the year-ago quarter. Consolidated operating income was $229.7 million, down 12% from the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.6% compared with 21.9% in the year-ago quarter. Capital expenditure, during the reported quarter, was approximately $14.7 million.

 At the end of first-quarter 2014, Televisa had approximately $1,707.7 million in cash and marketable securities and $4,617.4 million of outstanding debt compared with $1,572 million of cash and marketable securities and $4,624.3 million of outstanding debt at the end of 2013. At the end of the reported quarter, the debt-to-capitalization ratio was around 0.43, in line with the end 2013 level.

Content Segment

Quarterly total revenue came in at $511.4 million, up 4.6% year over year. Operating profit was $184.8 million, up 0.9% year over year, while operating margin was 36.1% compared with 37.5% in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly royalty from Univision was a record-high $64.8 million, up 13.1% year over year.  

Within this segment, Advertising revenues totaled $350.6 million, up 8.2% year over year. Network Subscription revenues were $53 million, reflecting a decrease of 21% from the year-ago quarter. Licensing and Syndication revenues were $107.9 million, up 10.4% year over year.  

Sky Segment

Quarterly revenues came in at $323.3 million, up 9.7% year over year. Operating profit was $150 million, up 10.1% year over year. Quarterly operating margin was 46.4% compared with 46.2% in the year-ago quarter.

Telecommunications Segment

Quarterly revenues were $354.3 million, up 15.7% year over year. Operating profit was $125.3 million, up 14.8% year over year. Operating margin came in at 35.4% compared with 35.7% in the year-ago quarter.

Other Businesses Segment

Quarterly revenues were $137.6 million, up 7.6% year over year. Operating income stood at $8.1 million, down 5.6% year over year. Operating margin was 5.9% as against 6.7% in the year-ago quarter.

Subscriber Statistics

As of Mar 31, 2014, Televisa had 2,518,730 Video subscribers; 1,750,398 Internet Broadband subscribers; and 942,879 Telephony subscribers, which together constitutes 5,212,007 revenue generating units (RGU) in the Telecommunications segment.

The company also had 6,154,290 net active Satellite TV subscribers, up 13.7% year over year. In the reported quarter, the Sky segment added 138,815 net active subscribers.

Other Stocks to Consider

Televisa currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). However, there are other stocks which are performing well in this industry. Some of them include Entravision Communications Corp. EVC, Phoenix New Media Ltd. FENG and LIN Media LLC. LIN. All three stocks currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).