Fox Corp. swung to a third quarter loss, weighed down by Fox News’ nearly $800 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.
In April Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems to avert a trial in the voting machine company’s lawsuit that would have exposed how the network promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election.
Dominion had sued Fox for $1.6 billion, arguing that the top-rated news outlet damaged the company’s reputation by peddling phony conspiracy theories that claimed its equipment switched votes from former President Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden.
“We made the business decision to resolve this dispute and avoid the acrimony of a divisive trial and a multiyear appeal process, a decision clearly in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” said Lachlan Murdoch, Chair and CEO of Fox Corp.
For the three months ended March 31, Fox Corp. lost $54 million, or 10 cents per share. A year ago it earned $283 million, or 50 cents per share.
The New York City company said Tuesday that the difference in its performance was mostly due to charges related to legal settlement costs at Fox News Media. The company did get a boost from televising Super Bowl LVII.
Excluding certain items, earnings were 94 cents per share. That beat the 88 cents per share analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were calling for.
Revenue climbed to $4.08 billion from $3.46 billion, bolstered by a 43% increase in advertising revenue related to Super Bowl LVII, more NFL games at Fox Sports and ongoing growth at ad supported streaming service Tubi.
The results topped Wall Street’s estimate of $4.05 billion.
Shares slipped 1% Tuesday.