Mumbai: Media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that second quarter revenues were $9.8 million, a one per cent decrease compared to the prior year quarter. Net loss was $3.4 million and included $2oo4 million of amortisation of intangibles, $1033 million of restructuring and other charges, and $983 million of transaction and integration expenses.
Adjusted Ebitda was $1.6 million. Cash provided by operating activities increased to $1 million and reported free cash flow increased to $789 million. The company ended the quarter with $3.8 million of cash on hand, gross debt of $53 billion and net leverage of 5x. It ended the quarter with 92.1 million global DTC subscribers, an increase of 1.7 million versus 90.4 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter, as adjusted for the company's new DTC subscriber definition. The new definition resulted in the exclusion of 10 million legacy Discovery non-core subscribers and unactivated AT&T mobility subscribers from the Q1 subscriber count.
“We’ve had a busy, productive four months since launching Warner Bros. Discovery and have more conviction than ever in the massive opportunity ahead. We have the most powerful creative engine and bouquet of owned content in the world, as highlighted by our industry-leading 193 Emmy nominations, and we intend to maximise the value of that content through a broad distribution model that includes theatrical, streaming, linear cable, free-to-air, gaming, consumer products and experiences and more, everywhere in the world. We’re confident we’re on the right path to meet our strategic goals and really excel, both creatively and financially, and couldn’t be more excited about the future of our company” said WBD president, CEO David Zaslav.
Networks reported revenues were $5.7 million an increase of one per cent. Ad revenue increased by two per cent, primarily driven by strong demand for sports advertising, partially offset by lower news, kids, and general entertainment performance in the US International networks were impacted by modest declines in EMEA, offset by growth in Latin America, excluding the impact of Chilevisión, which was sold in September 2021.
Distribution revenue decreased by one per cent, as increases in US contractual affiliate rates were more than offset by a decline in linear subscribers in the US and lower contractual affiliate rates in some European markets. Networks reported operating expenses were $3.4 million. Adjusted Ebitda was $2.62 million.
Studios reported revenues were $2.7 million a growth of four per cent. Games were a strong contributor behind the release of “Lego Star Wars - The Skywalker Saga.” TV licensing revenues declined due to lower TV production revenue, partially offset by the timing of new series availabilities for distribution. Theatrical performance was unfavourably impacted by the timing of releases. Home entertainment across theatrical and television products was down due to strong Covid-induced demand in the prior year quarter. Studios reported operating expenses were $2.5 million. Adjusted Ebitda was $239 million.
DTC revenues were $2.2 million. Revenues increased by four per cent. Ad revenue increased to $98 million, primarily driven by the launch of the HBO Max ad-supported tier in June 2021 and subscriber growth on the discovery+ ad-lite tier. Distribution revenue increased by one per cent. Global retail subscriber gains at discovery+ and HBO Max compared to the prior year quarter were largely offset by lower domestic wholesale subscribers resulting from the Amazon Channels expiration in September 2021 for HBO Max. DTC's operating expenses were $2.7 million. Adjusted Ebitda was a loss of - $518 million.
