Yes, Viacom‘s fiscal Q4 results saw year-over-year declines in both Earnings Per Share and for its consolidated revenue. But, the company that will soon reunite with CBS Corporation by effectively gobbling it not long after after Thanksgiving Day beat Zacks Consensus Estimates on both measures.
As such, shares of Viacom’s publicly traded Class B shares were up on Thursday.
At the Closing Bell, VIAB was up 1.9% to $22.47 on news that in its final quarter of the 2019 fiscal year, the company saw its net revenue slip to $3.43 billion, from $3.49 billion.
That’s slightly better — by 0.43% — than what analyst polled by Zacks Equity Research had predicted.
At the same time, adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Viacom fell to $321 million (79 cents per diluted share), from $400 million (99 cents).
No worries: Viacom’s EPS came in ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 76 cents.
It’s the second consecutive quarter with an earnings surprise from Viacom: In fiscal Q3 Viacom delivered EPS of $1.06 per share, yet reported earnings per share of $1.20.
“Our strong performance in the fourth quarter capped off a pivotal year for Viacom and reflects the successful execution of our strategic priorities to evolve the company for the future,” CEO Bob Bakish, who will lead the forthcoming ViacomCBS, said in prepared comments. “As we look to the future, we’re thrilled with the momentum we have to create one of the world’s preeminent content companies.”
Key to a strong fiscal 2019: returning Paramount to full-year profitability, he said. Its movie studio had been battered in recent quarters, losing hundreds of millions of dollars and leading some Wall Street analysts to urge the company to sell the laggard division.
Instead, Viacom rebooted Paramount. As a result, it is profitable for the first time since 2015 thanks to strong operating income and an eventual turnaround for Box Office misstep Dora and the Lost City of Gold, which on a budget of $49 million has taken in $60.5 million domestically and some $116/8 million worldwide. U.S. ticket sales were initially slow due to a late summer release that saw students already back in school in several key markets.
Meanwhile, the Media Networks division took in $1.16 billion in advertising revenue, thanks to what Viacom called “the continued success” of Advanced Marketing Solutions (AMS).
Affiliate revenue was higher, at $1.33 billion.
Further, Miami-based Viacom International Media Networks “delivered strong revenue growth, benefiting from SVOD and studio production gains.”
