Viacom’s Profit Soars In 4Q

Viacom Inc. (VIA.B) today declared encouraging financial results for the fourth quarter 2009. Quarterly net income from continuing operations was $663 million or $1.14 per share, compared to $464 million or 28 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.

Fourth quarter adjusted (excluding a one-time discrete tax benefit) EPS was $1.09, significantly above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 86 cents. This was primarily due to a soaring increase in operating profit and an effective cost-containment strategy. Quarterly total revenue of $4,098 million was down 3% year-over-year and was also below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4,236 million.

Quarterly adjusted (excluding one-time charges) operating income was $1,152 million, up 24% year-over-year driven by the solid performance of the Filmed Entertainment segment. At the end of fiscal 2009, Viacom had $298 million of cash & cash equivalent and $6,773 million of outstanding debt on its balance sheet compared to $792 million of cash & cash equivalent and $8,002 million of outstanding debt at the end fiscal 2008.

Media Networks Segment

Quarterly revenue of $2.33 billion was down 6% year-over-year. Within this segment, solid growth in affiliate sales was offset by lower advertising and ancillary revenues. Worldwide affiliate revenues grew 11% in the reported quarter. Worldwide advertising revenue declined 3% from the prior-year quarter whereas Domestic advertising revenue was down 4% year-over-year.

Ancillary revenue declined 37% year-over-year to $290 million, reflecting lower sales of Rock Band bundles. Quarterly operating profit was $921 million, up 3% year-over-year.

Filmed Entertainment Segment

Quarterly revenue of $1.79 billion was down 1% year-over-year. Worldwide home entertainment revenue was $1.15 billion, up 12% year-over-year. This was mainly due to the strong performance of the DVD and Blu-ray releases of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Theatrical revenue was down 73% year-over-year to a mere $93 million. Worldwide television license fees grew 27% year-over-year to $445 million. Quarterly operating profit was $298 million, up 255% year-over-year.

In pre-market trading, the stock price of Viacom was up 55 cents (1.93%) to $29.10.