(Reuters) - Time Warner Inc, which is in the process of being bought by AT&T Inc, reported a higher-than-expected 11.5 rise in quarterly revenue and said it remained on track to close the deal later this year.
AT&T's $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner was opposed by U.S. President Donald Trump during his election campaign.
Time Warner's fourth-quarter revenue rose to $7.89 billion from $7.08 billion, helped by the success of the "Harry Potter" spinoff "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them."
Analysts on average had expected $7.72 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue from Warner Bros, the company's biggest unit by revenue, rose 17 percent to $3.87 billion.
"Fantastic Beasts" grossed more than $800 million globally as of Feb. 5, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo. (http://bit.ly/2kDA90R)
Revenue from HBO, home to popular shows such as "Game of Thrones" and the new breakout series "WestWorld", rose 5.6 percent to $1.49 billion.
Time Warner, which is losing its audience to streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, took a 10 percent stake in video streaming site Hulu in August as part of its efforts to keep users hooked.
The company's net income from continuing operations fell to $317 million, or 40 cents per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from $857 million, or $1.06 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding some items, the company earned $1.25 per share, compared with the average estimate of $1.19 per share.
(Reporting by Rishika Sadam and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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