Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIA) (NASDAQ:VIAB) posted higher third quarter profits with net income up 20 percent fueled by higher affiliate fees at its cable TV channels and hike in advertising revenue. Adjusted profit posted by Viacom was less than Wall Street expectations, but revenue was above the estimates.
3Q performance of Viacom
For the latest quarter, earnings for Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIA) (NASDAQ:VIAB) came in at $643 million or $1.31 per share, increase from $534 million or $1.01 per share in the corresponding quarter of 2012. For the quarter, Viacom earned $1.29 per share on an adjusted basis after excluding discontinued operations and one-time items. Analysts expected $1.30 per share. Revenue surged 14 percent to $3.69 billion from $3.24 billion, which was above analysts expectation of $3.57 billion.
Board of members at Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIA) (NASDAQ:VIAB) increased the company’s stock repurchase program to $20 billion from $10 billion, which includes Viacom plans to buy back $2 billion in shares under the extended program that will be spread over the next few months.
Segment wise performance
In Media network segment, revenue increased 13 percent to $2.57 billion, primarily due the increase of 26 percent in global affiliate revenue that was derived from both digital distribution agreements and rate hike.
Generally, TV channels of Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIA) (NASDAQ:VIAB) contributed to two thirds of the total revenue and almost whole profit for Viacom, but presently, licensing content to video streaming services is adding more revenues to the company.
In June, Viacom, which owns MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures, entered into a licensing agreement with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which provided it exclusive online rights to show Viacom programming, incorporating episodes of Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer.” Viacom could not strike a deal with Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX).
Domestic advertising revenue
Domestic advertising revenue hiked 6 percent backed by higher ratings whereas worldwide advertising revenue increased 5 percent. Nickelodeon has been a cause of concern for Viacom whose ratings are coming down, but the third quarter result of the company did provide it some relief.
Revenue from the company’s filmed entertainment business surged 15 percent to $1.16 billion, and revenue from global theater increased 64 percent to $464 million, backed by the releases of movies “Star Trek into Darkness” ”World War Z” and “Pain and Gain.” Revenue was further derived by ticket sales from the movies released in the second quarter.
Earnings from “Star Trek into Darkness” came around $450 million worldwide, and in the previous year’s third quarter big release was “The Dictator”, which earned $177 million globally.
In the premarket trading, shares of Viacom were up 4.4 percent to $78.21, beating its 52 week high of $75.09.
