Viacom Inc. Thursday posted a third-quarter loss as a result of charges from discontinued operations and a writedown of its assets, but revenue rose on advertising sales growth at MTV and Nickelodeon cable networks and the CBS television network.
The company also said it plans to buy back $8 billion in stock.
The New York-based owners of MTV, Paramount Studios, and the Infinity Broadcasting posted a third quarter loss of $487.6 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $699.6 million.
Excluding charges, the company posted a profit of $723 million, or 42 centw a share, compared with a year earlier profit of $637 million, or 37 cents a share.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $5.5 billion from $5.3 billion.
The average Wall Street earnings estimate 41 cents a share, as compiled by Reuters Research. The average Reuters revenue estimate was $6.63 billion with range of $5.5 billion to $7.1 billion.
The company said it expects full year revenue to rise 8 percent and earnings per share growth of 16 percent, excluding severance charges and a 2004 tax benefit.