PARAMOUNT PICTURES - RECESSION WALLOPS VIACOM

RECESSION WALLOPS VIACOM

Viacom today (Thursday) joined a raft of media conglomerates reporting dismal results for the last quarter. In its SEC filing, the company, which owns Paramount Pictures, the MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central and other cable networks, said that its fourth-quarter profit fell 69 percent to $173 million from $560 million during the comparable quarter a year ago. The company attributed the slide primarily to the costs of retrenchment. "We acted early and decisively to prepare for the rapid decline in economic conditions," CEO Philippe Dauman said in a statement. Viacom wrote down $62 million on restructuring costs at Paramount, dropping operating profit at the studio 81 percent to $22 million. On the other hand, Paramount's revenue was up 28 percent, primarily due to the solid performance of Madagascar 2 Escape to Africa from DreamWorks Animation, whose films Paramount distributes..

12/02/2009