Discovery Communications Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results, Increases Buyback Authorization By $2 Billion And Announces Resumption Of Share Repurchases Beginning In Fourth Quarter 2015

SILVER SPRING, Md., Nov. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Third Quarter 2015 Financial Highlights:    

• Revenues decreased 1% to $1,557 million (increased 8% excluding currency effects)
• Adjusted OIBDA decreased 9% to $576 million (decreased 1% excluding currency effects)
• Adjusted EPS increased 2% to $0.47 (increased 25% excluding currency effects)

Discovery Communications, Inc. ("Discovery" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015.

"Discovery's unique portfolio of assets and global brands drove yet another quarter of strong worldwide viewership and financial results," said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications. "Discovery is like no other media company, propelled by our unmatched global infrastructure, local leadership, efficient global content model and sturdy position in the U.S., and we are confident in our ability to drive near and long-term growth and shareholder value."

Third Quarter Results

Third quarter revenues of $1,557 million decreased 1% compared to the third quarter a year ago, as 8% growth at U.S. Networks was more than offset by a 9% decline at International Networks, primarily due to currency effects.  Adjusted Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization⁽¹⁾ ("OIBDA") decreased 9% to $576 million, as 4% growth at U.S. Networks was more than offset by a 21% decline at International Networks, primarily due to currency effects, and a small operating loss at Education and Other.  Total Company revenues grew 8% and Adjusted OIBDA declined 1% excluding currency effects, as changes in foreign currency exchange rates reduced third quarter revenue and Adjusted OIBDA growth by 9% and 8%, respectively.  Excluding currency effects and the impact of the Eurosport acquisition⁽²⁾, the SBS Radio disposition⁽³⁾, and the consolidation of Discovery Family, total Company revenues increased 7% and Adjusted OIBDA decreased 1%.

Third quarter net income available to Discovery Communications, Inc. was relatively flat at $279 million ($0.43 per diluted share)⁽⁴⁾ compared to $280 million ($0.41 per diluted share) for the third quarter a year ago, primarily due to a net loss from equity investees, mostly offset by lower income tax expense.  Adjusted Earnings Per Diluted Share⁽⁵⁾ ("Adjusted EPS"), which excludes the impact of amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, was $0.47 in the third quarter of this year, up 2%, compared to $0.46 in the same period a year ago.  Adjusted EPS increased 25% excluding currency effects, as changes in foreign currency exchange rates reduced third quarter Adjusted EPS by 23%.  For the last twelve months, Adjusted EPS excluding currency effects was up 11% compared to the prior twelve month period.

Free cash flow decreased to $234 million for the third quarter, primarily due to the timing of changes in working capital and higher content spend. Free cash flow is defined as cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment.

SEGMENT RESULTS

U.S. Networks

U.S. Networks' revenues in the third quarter of 2015 increased 8% to $781 million, driven by 12% distribution growth and 6% advertising growth.  The 12% distribution revenue growth was primarily driven by higher rates and the consolidation of Discovery Family.  Advertising revenues increased 6% primarily due to higher pricing.  Excluding the consolidation of Discovery Family, distribution revenues grew 7% and total revenues grew 4% over the prior year's third quarter.

Adjusted OIBDA increased 4% to $443 million.  Excluding the consolidation of Discovery Family, Adjusted OIBDA was relatively flat, as revenue growth was offset by an 11% increase in operating expenses, mainly due to higher content amortization and marketing costs.

International Networks

International Networks' revenues for the third quarter decreased 9% to $740 million and Adjusted OIBDA decreased 21% to $218 million.  Changes in foreign currency exchange rates reduced third quarter international revenues and Adjusted OIBDA growth by 15% and 17%, respectively.  Excluding currency effects and the impact of Eurosport and SBS Radio, total revenues were up 9%.  Distribution revenues, excluding the impact of Eurosport and currency effects, grew 8% mainly from increased subscribers and rates in Latin America as well as increased subscribers in CEEMEA.  Advertising revenues, excluding the impact of Eurosport, SBS Radio and currency, were up 12%, primarily due to higher volume and prices in Latin America and higher ratings, prices and volume in Southern Europe.  Other revenues, excluding the impact of Eurosport, SBS Radio and currency, decreased $2 million, primarily due to lower program sales. 

Excluding the impact of Eurosport, SBS Radio and currency, Adjusted OIBDA was up 4%, reflecting the 9% revenue growth partially offset by a 13% increase in operating expenses.  The higher operating expenses were primarily due to increased content expenses and personnel costs.

Education and Other

Education and Other revenues for the third quarter increased by $1 million. Adjusted OIBDA decreased by $8 million compared to the third quarter of 2014 due to additional investments in education primarily related to digital textbooks, higher production costs associated with greater utilization of our in-house production companies, and higher personnel costs.

Corporate and Inter-Segment Eliminations

Adjusted OIBDA decreased by $8 million compared to the third quarter a year ago, primarily due to an increase in personnel costs.

STOCK REPURCHASE

On August 7, 2015, pursuant to the previously announced share repurchase agreement described below  between the Company and Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership ("ANPP"), the Company repurchased 0.8 million shares from ANPP at $62.12 per share, for a total of $52 million.

The Company has repurchased 101.6 million shares of Series C common stock and 2.8 million shares of its Series A common stock under its stock repurchase program to date at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $5.1 billion.  In aggregate, including the 24.1 million preferred shares acquired from ANPP and from Advance Programming Holdings, LLC, the Company has repurchased 30% of its outstanding shares since buyback activity was authorized in 2010.  Note that the aggregate share numbers have not been adjusted to reflect a stock dividend that was distributed in August 2014.

On October 8, 2015, the Company's Board of Directors approved a $2 billion increase to the existing stock repurchase program, taking the remaining authorization to $2.4 billion.  The additional authorization will expire in October 2017.  Under the stock repurchase program, management is authorized to purchase shares of common stock from time to time through open market purchases at prevailing prices or privately negotiated purchases or pursuant to one or more accelerated stock repurchase agreements or other derivative arrangements as permitted by securities laws and other legal requirements and subject to stock price, business and market conditions and other factors.

On May 22, 2014, the Company entered into a share repurchase agreement with ANPP to repurchase their shares of the Company's Series C convertible preferred stock, on a quarterly basis, in proportion to the company's repurchases under its stock repurchase program in a manner that is intended to maintain ANPP's current ownership percentage of the Company.  This agreement was amended by letter agreement on August 25, 2014.

OTHER ITEMS

On October 1, 2015, the Company completed the previously announced acquisition of TF1's 49% noncontrolling interest in Eurosport, increasing its stake from 51% to 100% for €491 million.  Concurrently, TF1 bought back Discovery's 20% interest in TV Breizh, Histoire, and Ushuaia TV for €15 million.

FULL YEAR 2015 OUTLOOK

For the full year ending December 31, 2015, Discovery expects total revenue excluding currency effects to grow in the 9-10% range, Adjusted OIBDA excluding currency effects to grow in the mid-single digit range and Adjusted EPS excluding currency to grow low double digits.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Adjusted OIBDA, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EPS and Free Cash Flow

In addition to the results prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") provided in this release, the Company has presented Adjusted OIBDA, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EPS and free cash flow.  The Company evaluates the operating performance of its segments based on financial measures such as revenues and Adjusted OIBDA.  Adjusted OIBDA is defined as operating income excluding: (i) mark-to-market equity-based compensation, (ii) depreciation and amortization, (iii) amortization of deferred launch incentives, (iv) restructuring and other charges, (v) certain impairment charges, (vi) gains and losses on business and asset dispositions, and (vii) certain inter-segment eliminations related to production studios.

The Company uses Adjusted OIBDA to assess the operating results and performance of its segments, perform analytical comparisons, identify strategies to improve performance and allocate resources to each segment.  The Company believes Adjusted OIBDA is relevant to investors because it allows them to analyze the operating performance of each segment using the same metric management uses.  The Company excludes mark-to-market equity-based compensation, restructuring and other charges, certain impairment charges, and gains and losses on business and asset dispositions from the calculation of Adjusted OIBDA due to their volatility.  The Company also excludes depreciation of fixed assets, amortization of intangible assets and deferred launch incentives, as these amounts do not represent cash payments in the current reporting period.  Additionally, certain corporate expenses and inter-segment eliminations related to production studios are excluded from segment results to enable executive management to evaluate segment performance based upon the decisions of segment executives.

The Company defines Adjusted Net Income as net income available to Discovery Communications, Inc. stockholders excluding the impact of amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, and defines Adjusted EPS as earnings excluding the impact of amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets per diluted share.  Note that given the change in conversion ratio for our preferred stock, the preferred shares are now only included in the diluted share count.  The Company believes Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS are relevant to investors because these metrics allow them to evaluate the performance of the Company's operations exclusive of the non-cash amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets that impact the comparability of results from period to period.

The Company defines free cash flow as cash provided by operating activities less acquisitions of property and equipment.  The Company uses free cash flow as it believes it is an important indicator for management and investors of the Company's liquidity, including its ability to reduce debt, make strategic investments and return capital to stockholders.

Adjusted OIBDA, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EPS and free cash flow are non-GAAP measures, and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, operating income, net income, earnings per diluted share and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP.  Please review the supplemental financial schedules beginning on page 10 for reconciliations to GAAP measures.

Conference Call Information

Discovery Communications, Inc. will host a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss its third quarter results.  To listen to the call, visit http://discoverycommunications.com or dial 1-800-901-5213 inside the U.S. and 1-617-786-2962 outside of the U.S., using the following passcode: DISCA.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties and on information available to the Company as of the date hereof. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 19, 2015. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will" and "would" or similar words. Forward-looking statements in this release include, without limitation, statements regarding investing in our programming, strategic growth initiatives, plans for stock repurchases and the full year 2015 outlook. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.