Time Warner profits up but shares fall as Fox pulls bid

Time Warner yesterday reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and boosted its stock buyback programme but the news failed to prevent its shares from tumbling 11% a day after Rupert Murdoch withdrew his bid for the company.

Revenue from Time Warner’s Home Box Office unit jumped 17% to $1.42bn (€1.06bn) for the second quarter, helped by the popularity of Game of Thrones and other HBO shows.

The company said that the fourth season of Game of Thrones, which ended in June, was the most watched season of an original series in HBO’s history.