Revenue during the quarter grew 4.27 percent to $3,396 million from $3,257 million in the previous year period. Total expenses were 76.50 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 76.88 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 38 basis points in operating margin to 23.50 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $798 million, compared with $753 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $798 million compared to $753 million in the prior year period.

“CBS is clearly knocking the cover off the ball, including revenue and profit growth across every one of our operating segments,” said Leslie Moonves, chairman and chief executive officer, CBS Corporation. “Our premium content continues to be the driving force behind our success, starting with the CBS Television Network, which kicked off another terrific season as the #1 network, with the #1 new drama, Bull, and the #1 new comedy, Kevin Can Wait. With ownership in all of our new fall shows, we have once again positioned our Company to monetize additional content across all platforms for years to come. This includes content licensing and distribution, which benefited from a 40% increase in streaming revenue during the third quarter. It also includes affiliate and subscription fees, where retransmission consent and reverse compensation grew 32% during the quarter, and where we continue to see rapid growth in our subscription streaming services, CBS All Access and Showtime OTT. Meanwhile, advertising remains strong and is accelerating here in the fourth quarter as our new upfront pricing kicks in and political spending is ramping up nicely. Looking ahead to the separation of our radio business, we see additional opportunities to return value to shareholders and invest in our core content business. So we feel extremely good about our future, and we are confident we have set ourselves up to succeed under any scenario.”

The company has spent $181 million cash to meet investing activities during the nine month period as against cash outgo of $106 million in the last year period.

The company has spent $1,269 million cash to carry out financing activities during the nine month period as against cash outgo of $812 million in the last year period.

Cash and cash equivalents stood at $179 million as on Sep. 30, 2016, up 34.59 percent or $46 million from $133 million on Sep. 30, 2015.

Working capital increases
CBS Corporation has recorded an increase in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $2,359 million as at Sep. 30, 2016, up 11.12 percent or $236 million from $2,123 million on Sep. 30, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.76 as on Sep. 30, 2016, up from 1.62 on Sep. 30, 2015.

Days sales outstanding went down to 88 days for the quarter compared with 92 days for the same period last year.

Debt moves up marginally 
CBS Corporation has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $8,957 million as on Sep. 30, 2016, up 1.80 percent or $158 million from $8,799 million on Sep. 30, 2015. Total debt was 37.56 percent of total assets as on Sep. 30, 2016, compared with 36.30 percent on Sep. 30, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.67 as on Sep. 30, 2016, up from 1.50 as on Sep. 30, 2015. Interest coverage ratio improved to 7.67 for the quarter from 7.38 for the same period last year.