Mexico's Televisa trims net loss in Q4, SKY lags

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's largest broadcaster, Televisa, on Thursday reported its second consecutive quarter in the red, clocking a net loss of 8.66 billion pesos ($510.5 million), with revenues dragged down by its SKY unit.

The fourth-quarter result is an improvement from the net loss of 12.19 billion pesos in the same quarter a year earlier.

The company's revenues fell 3.8% from 2022, reaching 18.41 billion pesos in the October-December period, better than expected according to a mean forecast of 18.13 billion pesos, based on analysts polled by LSEG.

The company's operating profits decreased 6.0%.

Televisa's satellite TV unit SKY saw about 160,400 disconnections with a 15.3% fall in revenue.

Televisa's cable segment added 9,600 connections in the quarter between broadband and video subscribers, while revenue dipped 1.8%.

The broadcasting giant also reported a full-year net loss of 10.24 billion pesos for 2023 on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Televisa's tie-up with Univision, TelevisaUnivision, also reported that it had narrowed its losses in the fourth quarter from the year-ago period.

Televisa's shares got a lift in recent days after its sports and gaming spinoff, Ollamani, which controls one of the country's top soccer clubs, had a soaring debut in the Mexican stock market.

Some analysts have said the spinoff could better Televisa's odds of securing a merger with Mexican broadcaster Megacable.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Sandra Maler)