Profits at media conglomerate Viacom skidded by 69 per cent in the fourth quarter, hurt by weakness in advertising sales at MTV and other cable channels, the company said.
The owner of MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount film studios and hit video game Rock Band reported a net profit of 173 million dollars, or 28 cents a share, down from 560 million dollars, or 86 cents, earned in the fourth quarter of 2007, dpa reported.
Quarterly revenue was stable at 4.24 billion dollars, and the company said it would have earned 454 million dollars without restructuring charges and other one time costs.
Though the earnings slightly missed investor expectations the stock rose 3 per cent when Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone announced that he was close to a deal to restructure a 1.8 billion loan for National Amusements, the holding company via which he controls Viacom. The prospective deal allowed Redstone to publicly rule out a continuation of the stock sales that have helped drive Viacom's shares down by 60 per cent over the past year.
"I've been advised that an agreement acceptable to all parties is now within reach," said Redstone in announcing the earnings. "I can confirm that National ... does not expect to be required by its lenders to sell any additional shares of CBS and Viacom."