Cost cutting boosts Viacom's 4Q profit

[February 11, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Viacom Inc. is posting a big jump in fourth-quarter profit, helped by cost cutting at its Paramount film studio.

The media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone owns a wide range of media properties including the MTV and Nickelodeon cable networks and the "Rock Band" video-game franchise.

Its net income came to $694 million, or $1.14 per share, for the last three months of 2009. That's up from $173 million, or 28 cents per share, a year ago.

Adjusted to strip out one-time items, earnings were $1.09 per share, beating Wall Street estimates of 88 cents a share.

It says revenue slipped 3 percent to $4.1 billion, just below analysts' estimates of $4.2 billion.

[Associated Press]

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