Viacom shares drop after weaker advertising sales
VIACOM posted a lower quarterly profit yesterday due to weaker than expected advertising sales at its stable of cable networks, including MTV and Nickelodeon.
Viacom shares dropped initially by around four per cent in early trading before recovering as Viacom executives assured investors they had seen a recovery in the market during the current quarter.
The media company said advertising revenue fell three per cent in its fiscal first quarter, surprising some analysts.
Viacom said earnings from continuing operations in the quarter to 31 December fell five per cent to $591m (£374m). But earnings per share rose four per cent to $1.06, boosted by aggressive share buybacks.
Revenue rose three per cent to $3.95bn, helped by a double-digit increase in fees paid by cable, satellite and phone distributors for carriage of its networks.