Media conglomerate reported a quadruple jump in fourth-quarter net earnings at $694 million against $173 million recorded in corresponding quarter last year. The strong performances of DVD sales of “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “Transformers 2” and “Star Trek” increased the bottom line and countered falling advertising sales.
Philippe Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom, said “Our disciplined and content-focused strategy helped Viacom close out the year with a stronger balance sheet, a streamlined cost structure and a reinvigorated creative mandate across the company.
The company reduced its debt outstanding at $6.77 billion on December 31, 2009, as compared with $8.0 billion at December 31, 2008.
The company recorded declining advertising income as media network unit’s revenue recorded a dip of 6%. Paramount Pictures significantly boosted its profitability in 2009 as the studio’s strategy of producing a smaller slate of films, anchored by franchises, began to pick up momentum. Looking ahead, Paramount has built a very strong slate for 2010, kicking off next week with the release of Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island.