Viacom Reports Double-Digit Revenue and Profit Growth for Fiscal 2011 Third Quarter

NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) today reported double-digit gains for the fiscal 2011 third quarter ended June 30, 2011.  Consolidated revenues in the quarter grew 15% to $3.77 billion, primarily driven by growth in affiliate, advertising and television license revenues.  Adjusted operating income increased 22% to $995 million, fueled by Media Networks profit growth.  Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Viacom were up 35% to $583 million with adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations of $0.99, which represents a 39% increase over the prior year's results of $0.71 per share.

Sumner M. Redstone, Executive Chairman of Viacom, said, "I am very pleased with Viacom's outstanding results.  Our strategic focus and consistent investment in creative content are continuing to drive our growth."

Philippe Dauman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom, said, "The breadth of hit programming found across Viacom's media network portfolio continues to expand with top-rated shows and tentpole events on MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET and TV Land, as well as many of our international networks, all of which contributed to strong advertising growth and a robust advertising upfront performance.  We are strengthening our global entertainment brands and expanding our reach through new international and digital distribution and bringing our audiences the content they want on new platforms.

"Paramount Pictures is the first studio ever to deliver a record six consecutive $100 million-plus domestic box office movies and it was the first studio to cross the $1 billion domestic box office threshold for the fifth year in a row.  

"In addition to our creative and operational success, Viacom is in the best financial shape in its history and has furthered its commitment to return cash to our shareholders with the recent increase in our dividend and the acceleration of our stock buyback program."  

Quarterly revenues of $3.77 billion grew 15% from $3.28 billion in the prior year.  Media Networks delivered $2.39 billion in revenues, a 16% increase over the prior year period, driven principally by growth in advertising and affiliate revenues.  Worldwide advertising revenues were up 14% to $1.28 billion with domestic ad sales growing 12% in the quarter.  Worldwide affiliate revenues increased 19% to $971 million, reflecting higher digital distribution revenues as well as rate increases.  International growth drove worldwide ancillary revenues up 13% in the quarter to $145 million as higher consumer products revenues from international markets were partially offset by lower domestic home entertainment revenues.  

Filmed Entertainment revenues grew 13% to $1.41 billion due principally to higher television license fees and home entertainment revenues.  The Company's worldwide television license revenues were up 36% in the quarter to $416 million, driven by the number and mix of available titles.  Home entertainment revenues increased 33% to $331 million, reflecting one additional release as compared with the prior year's quarter as well as the strength of the current year releases.  Ancillary revenues also grew, up 57% to $72 million.  These gains were partially offset by lower theatrical revenues, which were down 9% to $588 million, principally reflecting the timing of film releases.  The prior year period benefited from strong carryover revenues from DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon whereas Transformers: Dark of the Moon was released in the final week of the fiscal 2011 third quarter, which will result in the majority of the film's theatrical revenues occurring in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Quarterly adjusted operating income of $995 million grew 22% over the prior year's result of $816 million.  This growth was driven by a 27% increase in the Media Networks segment, driven primarily by higher affiliate and advertising revenues.  Filmed Entertainment profits were down 29% to $49 million, principally due to the timing and mix of theatrical releases.      

Quarterly adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Viacom were $583 million, an increase of 35%.  These results reflect the after-tax impact of higher operating income and equity income.  Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.99, a 39% increase from the $0.71 earned in the prior year's comparable quarter.

Stock Repurchase Program

For the quarter ended June 30, 2011, Viacom repurchased 14.2 million shares for an aggregate purchase price of $700 million.  As of August 4, 2011, Viacom had $2.18 billion remaining in its $4 billion stock repurchase program.

Debt

At June 30, 2011, total debt outstanding, including capital lease obligations, was $6.95 billion, compared with $6.75 billion at September 30, 2010.  The Company's cash balances increased to $955 million at June 30, 2011, compared with $837 million at September 30, 2010.

About Viacom

Viacom is home to the world's premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms in more than 160 countries and territories.  With approximately 170 media networks reaching more than 600 million global subscribers, Viacom's leading brands include MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, BET, CENTRIC, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV Land, Spike TV and Tr3s.  Paramount Pictures, America's oldest film studio and creator of many of the most beloved motion pictures, continues today as a major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment.  Viacom operates a large portfolio of branded digital media experiences, including many of the world's most popular properties for entertainment, community and casual online gaming.

For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains both historical and forward-looking statements. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations concerning future results, objectives, plans and goals, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others: the public acceptance of the Company's programs, motion pictures and other entertainment content on the various platforms on which they are distributed; technological developments and their effect in the Company's markets and on consumer behavior; the impact of piracy; competition for audiences and distribution; fluctuations in the Company's results due to the timing, mix and availability of the Company's motion pictures; economic conditions generally, and in advertising and retail markets in particular; changes in the Federal communications laws and regulations; other domestic and global economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting the Company's businesses generally; and other factors described in the Company's news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Fiscal Year 2010 Transition Report on Form 10-K and reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date of this document, and the Company does not have any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES REGARDING NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The following table reconciles the Company's results for the quarter and nine months ended June 30, 2011 and the nine months ended June 30, 2010, to adjusted results that exclude the impact of certain items identified as affecting comparability ("Factors Affecting Comparability"), including restructuring charges, extinguishment of debt, asset impairment and discrete tax benefits.  There were no adjustments to our results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.  The Company uses consolidated adjusted operating income, adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Viacom and adjusted diluted earnings per share ("EPS") from continuing operations, as applicable, among other measures, to evaluate the Company's actual operating performance and for planning and forecasting of future periods. The Company believes that the adjusted results provide relevant and useful information for investors because they clarify the Company's actual operating performance, make it easier to compare Viacom's results with those of other companies and allow investors to review performance in the same way as our management.  Since these are not measures of performance calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, they should not be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, operating income, net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Viacom and diluted EPS as indicators of operating performance, and they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies.

SOURCE Viacom Inc.