VIA Via Renewables Inc

   By Imani Moise 
 

CBS Corp. reported higher-than-expected sales as it mulls a potential merger with Viacom Inc.

The company also gave an upbeat outlook for 2018, forecasting revenue growth in the high-single digits and earnings per share growth in the the high teens. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast sales growth of 4.5% and adjusted earnings growth of 18%.

Affiliate and subscription fees, which include revenue from streaming services and traditional bundles, rose 20% during the quarter while advertising revenue fell 2.8%. Ad sales were hurt by lower levels of political advertising than the year earlier quarter which included the presidential election.

Content licensing and distribution revenue grew 33%, driven by strong growth from both domestic and international licensing sales.

Earlier this month, CBS and Viacom's boards disclosed that the companies were evaluating a deal to reunite the two big pieces of Sumner Redstone's media empire. CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves has resisted the idea in the past and is said to still have concerns about a combination.

Viacom reported a deeper-than-expected revenue decline and falling adjusted profit for its first quarter earlier this month.

Overall for the fourth-quarter, CBS's loss narrowed to $41 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a loss of $113 million, or 26 cents a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of $1.20 a share up from $1.11.

Revenue rose 11% to $3.92 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of $1.14 a share on sales of $3.7 billion.

Shares rose 1.52% during premarket trading. The stock has fallen 13% over the past year.

Write to Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2018 16:57 ET (21:57 GMT)

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