Film business, higher affiliate fees lift Viacom's revenue

[May 04, 2017]  (Reuters) - Viacom Inc, the owner of MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, reported a quarterly revenue that handily beat estimates, helped by growth in its filmed entertainment unit as well as higher affiliate revenue.

The company's shares were slightly higher at $39.48 in choppy trading before the bell on Thursday.

Revenue from Viacom's filmed entertainment business, which houses the Paramount film studio, jumped 37 percent to $895 million in the company's second quarter ended March 31, breezing past analysts' average estimate of $676.5 million, according to financial data and analytics firm FactSet.

Affiliate revenue — the fees that Viacom collects from cable TV operators as well as Internet distributors — rose 2 percent to $1.16 billion in the quarter, reflecting higher rates.

Viacom's revenue from Comedy Central, MTV and other media networks, climbed 1 percent to $2.39 billion, helped by growth in overseas markets.

For long, Viacom has struggled with falling domestic ad sales, hurt by weak ratings as viewers increasingly seek entertainment online. In the second quarter, the company's domestic ad sales fell 4 percent, but were in line with analysts' expectations, according to FactSet.

The company in February said it would focus on six of its brands as part of a turnaround plan orchestrated by Chief Executive Bob Bakish, who took the helm in December. The brands are: Paramount, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.

Bakish has also said he is focused on improving relations with Viacom's affiliates, and licensing less content to video streaming companies like Netflix and Hulu.

A woman exits the Viacom Inc. headquarters in New York, U.S. on April 30, 2013. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

Another key focus for Viacom is to turn around the business at Paramount, following years of underperformance.

In March, the company hired movie industry veteran Jim Gianopulos, the former head of Twenty-First Century Fox's <FOXA.O> film studio, as Paramount's new chief.

Net profit attributable to Viacom plunged 60 percent to $121 million, or 30 cents per share in the second quarter, partly reflecting a $174 million charge related to restructuring.

Excluding one-time items, Viacom earned 79 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected 59 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Viacom's revenue rose 8.5 percent to $3.26 billion, beating analysts' expectations of $3.02 billion.

(Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Anya George Tharakan; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)

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