Viacom first-quarter profit drops 65% on weak advertising
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Even Tom Cruise wasn’t enough for media company Viacom Inc. to pull off a nearly impossible mission: turning a crowd-pleasing first-quarter earnings.
The New York-based media company’s profit plummeted 65% on lower advertising sales at its important cable television networks for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Advertising woes were particularly nettlesome at children’s channel Nickelodeon, which has experienced a precipitous drop in ratings.
Viacom’s earnings were also dragged down by a $383-million charge for payments to former shareholders of the Rock Band video game franchise, part of the company’s long-running legal dispute over Harmonix Music Systems. The payout was the latest sour note in Viacom’s failed attempt to get into the video game business.
Net income dropped to $212 million, or 38 cents a share, compared to $610 million, or $1, during the same period the previous year. The earnings, reported Thursday, slightly beat analysts’ forecasts. Viacom’s revenue increased 3% to $3.95 billion. Analysts, however, had expected slightly higher revenue.
Hollywood-based movie studio Paramount Pictures delivered an admirable box office performance, boosted by the late-December release of ‘Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol,’ starring Cruise and directed by Brad Bird. (The film has taken in $575 million worldwide.) The century-old Melrose Avenue film studio also thanked ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ and ‘Puss In Boots’ for its box office results. ‘The Adventures of TinTin’ underperformed.
Paramount generated $1.6 billion in revenue, an increase of 4%. Theatrical revenue was up 37% to $570 million. Home entertainment sales dipped 6% to $598 million. Overall, the expense-laden studio reported a $31-million deficit for the quarter.
Viacom -- which is controlled by 88-year-old billionaire Sumner Redstone -- depends almost entirely on its collection of cable channels, including MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, VH-1 and Comedy Central, for income. Most alarming to analysts was Viacom’s admission that advertising was off 3% to $1.35 billion for the quarter.
The company’s Media Networks unit took in $2.44 billion, which was a 3% increase over 2010. Operating income for the media networks increased 7% to $1.1 billion.
‘Despite some early headwinds, Viacom is off to a strong start in 2012,’ Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said during an early morning call with analysts.
Dauman said the company would produce nearly 30% more hours of original TV programming this fiscal year to try to gain back lost ratings and boost advertising sales. The company expects to spend $3 billion on programming this year.
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-- Meg James
