Starz shares fell more than 15% in early trading Wednesday after the premium channel reported a 2% rise in revenue, but a 10% decline in profits and weaker than expected subscriber additions in the second quarter.
Starz shares fell as much as 15% ($6.77 each) to $38 per share in early trading July 29. The stock started to gain back some of that ground in later trading, down 11.3% ($5.06 per share) to $39.71 each at 11:02 a.m.
For the period, Starz reported revenue of $417.7 million, a 2% increase, and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) of $123.4 million, up 5%. But the premium channel, which has devoted an increasing amount of its resources to original programming, saw its net income dip about 10% to $63.4 million, or 59 cents per share, from $70.1 million or 62 cents per share in the prior year.
