'X-Men' movie helps Fox beat profit and revenue estimates

The company's shares were up 4 percent at $33.65 in extended trading on Wednesday.

Fox, which withdrew its $80 billion offer to buy Time Warner Inc on Tuesday, said revenue rose 16.8 percent to $8.42 billion in the fourth quarter ended June 30.

Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $7.99 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue in the company's filmed entertainment division jumped 38 percent to $768 million, driven mainly by the X-Men movie - the seventh in the series based on the Marvel Comics series - and the animated film "Rio 2".

The X-Men movie has grossed $740 million since it was released on May 23.

The success of the films, and others such as "The Fault in our Stars", helped the film studio become the first to cross the $3 billion mark in worldwide box office sales this year, the company said.

Revenue in Fox's cable network business, its largest, jumped 37.7 percent to $2.8 billion, boosted by higher advertising sales and an increase in subscriptions to regional sports channels.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 42 cents per share, beating analysts' average estimate of 38 cents.

Net income attributable to shareholders was $999 million, or 45 cents per share, compared with a loss of $371 million, or 16 cents per share in the same quarter of 2013.

Fox separated from News Corp last June. News Corp retains the former group's print businesses.

In withdrawing its offer to buy Time Warner, the company abandoned its plans to create one of the world's largest media conglomerates.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)

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