Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) rose Friday after reporting stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
Revenues came in at $3.485 billion, a 5% improvement over the $3.3 billion in the prior-year quarter. Net earnings from continuing operations, however, slowed to $386 million, from the $674 million in the prior-year quarter.
CEO Bob Bakish said, "Our strong performance in the fourth quarter capped off a pivotal year for Viacom. We successfully turned around our core business, with dramatic improvements across our networks, at Paramount and in distribution.
"We also took important steps to evolve Viacom for the future – investing in our portfolio of advanced marketing solutions, digital and experiential offerings and global studio production business. As we head into 2019, we are excited about the company’s evolution and expect to return to topline growth."
Paramount Pictures has built a diverse theatrical film slate of 13 titles for FY19 – up from nine in FY18 – that feature big-budget tentpoles, targeted-audience productions and Viacom-branded films.
Upcoming releases include the latest installment of the Transformers franchise, Bumblebee; the BET co-branded film What Men Want; animated feature Wonder Park; a reboot of Stephen King’s horror classic Pet Sematary; and the Elton John biopic Rocketman.
Viacom Media Networks also declared it returned domestic affiliate revenues and total adjusted operating income to growth in FQ4, strengthened audience share and accelerated initiatives in content production, digital consumption and ad solutions.
Viacom shares on 14 cents to $31.97.
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