As Paramount Skydance Corp. (NASDAQ:PSKY) prepares its technology infrastructure to absorb Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD), the financial realities of the looming mega-merger are coming into sharp focus, highlighted by WBD’s massive $2.9 billion first-quarter net loss.
Staggering Net Loss And ‘Termination Fee’
WBD reported a first-quarter net loss available to the company of $2.9 billion. A major component of this deficit is a colossal $2.8 billion termination fee paid to Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). Under the terms of the merger agreement, PSKY actually paid Netflix $2.8 billion on WBD’s behalf.
WBD’s free cash flow also took a hit, declining to negative $476 million, adversely affected by roughly $100 million in separation- and transaction-related items.
“We flowed $100 million roughly in negative cash impact through the first quarter,” noted WBD Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels during their earnings call, warning, “And again, there will be more coming.”
data-variant=”card”
data-news-mode=”manual”
>
Read Also:
Paramount Stock Edges Higher On Q1 Double Beat, Streaming Growth Drives Results
This post was originally published here
