Warner Bros. Discovery forecasts steeper charges related to acquisition

Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday said it expected to take bigger charges related to its acquisition of AT&T’s WarnerMedia, as it tries to pare down operations. The recently combined company – the parent of HBO, CNN and other channels – said in a filing that it expects pretax restructuring charges of $4.1 billion to $5.3 billion, including $2.8 billion to $3.5 billion of content-impairment and development write-offs. Those figures are up from prior estimates of $3.2 billion to $4.3 billion in restructuring charges, with content-impairment and development write-offs of roughly $2 billion to $2.5 billion. The exact reason for the increase was unclear, but it comes after the company’s efforts to lower costs, including through layoffs and pulling back on programming, in the wake of the acquisition. Warner Bros. Discovery said it was not revising prior estimates on costs related to organizational restructuring – such as for severance from layoffs and relocation – or costs related to cash expenditures, consolidating facilities or terminating contracts. However, it said that the ongoing reorganization, still expected to largely wrap up by the end of 2024, “could result in additional impairments above the revised estimates.” Shares were down 0.7% after hours.

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