Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) said it plans to raise $400 million and use the cash for general corporate purposes. The cash will help Netflix cover its presumed expansion into Europe, marketing plans for 2014 and payments to content suppliers. The company plans to sell 10-year bonds to get the cash.
In its annual report to shareholders, Netflix said it is contracted to pay nearly $3 billion in streaming content obligations in 2014 and has more than $7.25 billion in streaming content obligations due over the next five-plus years.
Meanwhile, the amount of time Netflix viewers are spending watching the service continues to grow, according to BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield. He estimates total domestic streaming hours have increased 30 percent from a year earlier, with an average usage of 96 minutes per household per day.
He based his estimates on a haiku Netflix CEO Reed Hastings posted to his Facebook page indicating Netflix had streamed more than 2 billion hours of content globally in January.
If accurate, that would put Netflix's total domestic viewing "within striking distance" of Fox's broadcast network programming, Greenfield wrote.
For more:
- Read the Netflix press release
- Read the annual report
- Read the BTIG post (registration required)
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