Viacom Q2 Results Beat View

(RTTNews) - Media conglomerate Viacom, Inc. (VIA, VIAB) on Thursday reported a turnaround to profit in the second quarter, as lower revenues in the Filmed Entertainment and Media Networks segments were more than offset by lower expenses. Both revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations.

Second-quarter net earnings attributable to Viacom, the owner of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, was $303 million or $0.76 per share, compared to net loss of $53 million or $0.13 per share in the same period last year.

Adjusted net earnings attributable to Viacom for the quarter were $303 million or $0.76 per share, compared to $467 million or $1.16 per share a year ago.

On average, 35 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.74 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter declined 3 percent to $3.01 billion from $3.08 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts' revenue consensus was $2.98 billion.

Excluding an unfavorable 1 percent impact of foreign exchange, revenues decreased 2 percent.

Media Networks' revenues for the quarter declined 3 percent from last year to $2.38 billion. Domestic advertising revenues decreased 5 percent and international advertising revenue declined 1 percent.

Filmed Entertainment's revenues for the quarter decreased 1 percent to $655 million, as an increase in license fees and theatrical revenues was more than offset by declines in home entertainment and ancillary revenues.

Viacom's total expenses for the quarter declined 20 percent from the year-ago period to $2.42 billion. The prior-year quarter's results included restructuring expenses.