Investing.com -- Weeks after Rupert Murdoch officially stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of 21st Century Fox, passing on control of a major chunk of his media empire to his 42-year old son James, the company demonstrated signs of a strong transition in leadership with better than expected fourth quarter results on Wednesday.
For fiscal year 2015 as a whole, Fox increased adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization by 3% to $6.49 billion, while its adjusted income from continuing operations per share increased 11% to $1.72. The company gained $7.3 billion in net proceeds from selling its stakes in Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland AG, as well as acquiring $900 million of additional shares in Sky.
Fox also believes it substantially raised the profile of its sports networks through its airing of prominent global events such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and the U.S. Open Golf Championship. Over the year, Fox's cable programming revenue increased to $3.57 billion, up from $3.35 billion a year earlier.
"We made clear operational strides over the last year that will further position us to benefit from the strong and growing global demand for high quality video content," said Rupert Murdoch, who has remained as the company's Executive Chairman during the transition. "We delivered a solid financial performance, drive by sustained gains in affiliate fees, while we continued to invest in building our new channels Fox Sports 1, FXX and Star Sports."
Still, Fox saw its total revenues and net profit shrink amid declines in its filmed entertainment division along with the sale of its satellite business. The company's total revenues dipped from $8.42 billion last year to $6.21 billion in 2015, slightly below analysts' forecasts of $6.41 billion.
Also on Wednesday, the company announced a new $5 billion authorization to its stock buyback intended to be completed over the next 12 months.
Class A Fox shares fell 1.42 or 4.35% in after-hours trading to $30.53.