Profit Dips at Viacom

NEW YORK: Viacom’s third-quarter profit was down 7 percent, impacted by weak theatrical revenues and lower ad sales.

Viacom earned $534 million in the quarter, compared to the year ago’s $574 million. Revenue fell 14 percent to $3.24 billion.

At the networks, revenue fell 5 percent, with U.S. advertising down 7 percent. Worldwide ad revenues dipped 9 percent in the quarter. 

Filmed entertainment revenues were down 29 percent to $1.01 billion. Worldwide theatrical revenues dipped 52 percent in the quarter, while home-entertainment revenues declined 8 percent.

Sumner M. Redstone, executive chairman of Viacom, said, “We continue to develop outstanding creative content on every platform while efficiently executing Viacom’s strategy. We are confident that Viacom’s unrivaled portfolio of powerful brands will continue to grow and evolve over the long term as we entertain and inspire new audiences around the world every day.”

Philippe Dauman, the president and CEO of Viacom, added, “Despite challenging year-on-year comparisons with last year’s strong third quarter, Viacom remains committed to pursuing its long-term strategy of international expansion, continued programming investment and ongoing focus on operational discipline. Viacom continues to bring cultural powerhouses to fans around the world, and we are aggressively investing in our brands to create new hits, like Workaholics and Legend of Korra, now the most watched kids’ program on cable in the quarter. Paramount also continued to strengthen its platform by aligning its slate to provide upcoming releases with the best possible opportunity to succeed in the global marketplace.

“Looking forward, we will continue to operate efficiently to maintain our competitive and creative edge, and over time, return significant value to shareholders.”