Versant Media Group reported lower revenue and profit in its first quarter on Thursday, the company’s second earnings report since being spun off from Comcast earlier this year.
Versant, which is home to cable networks including CNBC, MS NOW and E!, reported $1.69 billion in revenue, down 1.1% from a year earlier
Net income declined 22% to $286 million. The company’s revenue and profit beat expectations of analysts polled by FactSet. Most Read from The Wall Street Journal Versant shares rose as much as 16% in premarket trading before retreating to around a 10% gain.
Comcast greenlighted the spinoff of its NBCUniversal cable networks in late 2024, an acknowledgment that it would be better off without a business that was once its crown jewel but which suffered after years of cord-cutting. Versant became an independent, publicly traded company in January. Versant said the revenue it receives from pay-TV distributors fell by 7.3% to $1.01 billion, because of subscriber declines, and advertising revenue decreased by 5.2%, to $368 million.