NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA) today reported financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, including higher revenues in its Media Networks and Filmed Entertainment segments and record adjusted diluted earnings per share.
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Fiscal Year 2015 Results |
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| (in millions, except per share amounts) |
Quarter Ended December 31, |
B/(W) | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 vs. 2013 | ||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | 3,344 | $ | 3,197 | 5 | % | ||||||
| Operating income | 935 | 960 | (3 | ) | ||||||||
| Adjusted operating income* | 959 | 960 | — | |||||||||
| Net earnings attributable to Viacom | 500 | 547 | (9 | ) | ||||||||
| Adjusted net earnings attributable to Viacom* | 538 | 547 | (2 | ) | ||||||||
| Diluted EPS | 1.20 | 1.20 | — | |||||||||
| Adjusted diluted EPS* | $ | 1.29 | $ | 1.20 | 8 | % | ||||||
| * Adjusted measures referenced in this release are detailed in the Supplemental Disclosures at the end of this release. Results for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 were adjusted for the effect of pension settlements and discrete tax items. There were no adjustments for the quarter ended December 31, 2013. |
Sumner M. Redstone, Executive Chairman of Viacom, said, “Viacom's powerful entertainment brands continue to lead the way in reaching global audiences with groundbreaking content. Our outstanding management team has positioned Viacom for continued success.”
Philippe Dauman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom, said, “Viacom's focus on developing popular franchise properties and constantly expanding our growing international presence drove solid top line results and record earnings per share this quarter. We continued to deliver increased revenues in our media networks operations driven by steady growth in affiliate revenues, and also benefited from Paramount Pictures' Oscar-nominated Interstellar and our very successful company-wide franchise, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
“The media business is evolving faster than ever, but our mission remains unchanged: to continually develop more and better entertainment programming and deliver it to our engaged audiences on every screen and on every platform worldwide. To maintain our leadership position, we will continue to innovate and to manage our business as effectively and efficiently as possible, embracing change and adopting new technologies to better measure and monetize our content and meet industry-wide challenges. Viacom is financially strong and extremely well positioned for the future, with the talent and the creativity to grow our core business and continue to deliver increasing value to our investors.”
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Revenues |
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| (in millions) |
Quarter Ended December 31, |
B/(W) | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 vs. 2013 | ||||||||||
| Media Networks | $ | 2,654 | $ | 2,541 | 4 | % | ||||||
| Filmed Entertainment | 720 | 681 | 6 | |||||||||
| Eliminations | (30 | ) | (25 | ) | NM | |||||||
| Total Revenues | $ | 3,344 | $ | 3,197 | 5 | % | ||||||
| NM - Not Meaningful | ||||||||||||
Quarterly revenues rose 5% to $3.34 billion, driven by increases across the business. Media Networks revenues increased 4% to $2.65 billion, due to higher affiliate fees and advertising revenues. Domestic affiliate revenues rose 8% and worldwide affiliate revenues grew 6%, primarily due to rate increases. Domestic advertising revenues declined 6%, reflecting lower ratings. Worldwide advertising revenues rose 3%, reflecting a 60% increase in international advertising revenues driven by contributions from Channel 5, which was acquired in September 2014. The 4% increase in Media Networks revenues includes an unfavorable 1% impact of foreign exchange.
Filmed Entertainment revenues grew 6% to $720 million. Released theatrically in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2014, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remained a strong performer in the current quarter, complementing the current quarter releases and helping to drive a 6% increase in theatrical revenues and a 16% gain in home entertainment revenues. Home entertainment revenues reflect two film releases in the current quarter, compared with none in the same prior year period. License fees declined 9% resulting from the mix of available titles.
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Operating Income (Loss) |
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| (in millions) |
Quarter Ended December 31, |
B/(W) | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 vs. 2013 | ||||||||||
| Media Networks | $ | 1,104 | $ | 1,114 | (1 | )% | ||||||
| Filmed Entertainment | (60 | ) | (74 | ) | 19 | |||||||
| Corporate expenses | (61 | ) | (51 | ) | (20 | ) | ||||||
| Eliminations | 2 | 3 |
NM |
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| Equity-based compensation | (26 | ) | (32 | ) | 19 | |||||||
| Adjusted operating income | 959 | 960 | — | |||||||||
| Loss on pension settlement | (24 | ) | — |
NM |
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| Operating income | $ | 935 | $ | 960 | (3 | )% | ||||||
| NM - Not Meaningful | ||||||||||||
Quarterly adjusted operating income of $959 million was flat versus the prior year. Media Networks adjusted operating income declined 1% due to higher programming expenses partially offset by revenue gains. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, Media Networks adjusted operating income was flat for the quarter. Filmed Entertainment generated an adjusted operating loss of $60 million, an improvement of 19%, as higher revenues more than offset increases in film and distribution expenses.
Quarterly adjusted net earnings attributable to Viacom declined 2%, principally due to the 4% negative impact of foreign currency exchange rates, as well as higher interest costs. Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the quarter increased 8% to $1.29, a record for the fiscal quarter ended December 31. Foreign exchange had an unfavorable $0.05 impact on adjusted diluted EPS.
Stock Repurchase Program
For the quarter ended December 31, 2014, Viacom repurchased 10.2 million shares under its stock repurchase program, for an aggregate purchase price of $750 million. As of January 28, 2015, Viacom had $5.62 billion remaining in its $20 billion stock repurchase program. As of December 31, 2014, Viacom had 407 million shares of common stock outstanding.
Debt
At December 31, 2014, total debt outstanding, including capital lease obligations, was $13.76 billion, compared with $12.77 billion at September 30, 2014. In the quarter, the Company issued $1.0 billion of debt, a portion of which it intends to utilize for the repayment of $600 million aggregate principal amount of the Company's senior notes due February 2015. The Company’s cash balances were $1.2 billion at December 31, 2014, an increase from $1.0 billion at September 30, 2014.
About Viacom
Viacom is home to premier global media brands that create compelling television programs, motion pictures, short-form video, apps, games, consumer products, social media and other entertainment content for audiences in more than 165 countries and territories. Viacom's media networks, including MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, BET, CENTRIC, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, TV Land, SPIKE, Channel 5 (UK), Tr3s, Paramount Channel and VIVA, reach a cumulative 3.2 billion television subscribers worldwide. Paramount Pictures, America's oldest film studio, is a major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment.
For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com. Viacom may also use social media channels to communicate with its investors and the public about the company, its brands and other matters, and those communications could be deemed to be material information. Investors and others are encouraged to review posts on Viacom’s company blog (blog.viacom.com), Twitter feed (twitter.com/viacom) and Facebook page (facebook.com/viacom).
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 our 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 future results, performance or achievements to differ. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others: the measured audience acceptance of our programs, motion pictures and other entertainment content on the various platforms on which they are distributed; technological developments and their effect in our markets and on consumer behavior; competition for content, audiences, advertising and distribution; the impact of piracy; economic fluctuations in advertising and retail markets, and economic conditions generally; fluctuations in our results due to the timing, mix and availability of our motion pictures and other programming; the potential for loss of carriage or other reduction in the distribution of our content; changes in the Federal communications laws and regulations; evolving cybersecurity and similar risks; other domestic and global economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting our businesses generally; and other factors described in our news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to our 2014 Annual 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 we do not have any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. If applicable, reconciliations for any non-GAAP financial information contained in this news release are included in this news release or available on our website at http://www.viacom.com.
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VIACOM INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS (Unaudited) |
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Quarter Ended December 31, |
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| (in millions, except per share amounts) | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||
| Revenues | $ | 3,344 | $ | 3,197 | ||||
| Expenses: | ||||||||
| Operating | 1,623 | 1,474 | ||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 731 | 704 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 55 | 59 | ||||||
| Total expenses | 2,409 | 2,237 | ||||||
| Operating income | 935 | 960 | ||||||
| Interest expense, net | (160 | ) | (149 | ) | ||||
| Equity in net earnings of investee companies | 33 | 26 | ||||||
| Other items, net | (18 | ) | — | |||||
| Earnings before provision for income taxes | 790 | 837 | ||||||
| Provision for income taxes | (277 | ) | (280 | ) | ||||
| Net earnings (Viacom and noncontrolling interests) | 513 | 557 | ||||||
| Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests | (13 | ) | (10 | ) | ||||
| Net earnings attributable to Viacom | $ | 500 | $ | 547 | ||||
| Basic earnings per share attributable to Viacom | $ | 1.22 | $ | 1.23 | ||||
| Diluted earnings per share attributable to Viacom | $ | 1.20 | $ | 1.20 | ||||
| Weighted average number of common shares outstanding: | ||||||||
| Basic | 410.6 | 444.9 | ||||||
| Diluted | 416.1 | 454.0 | ||||||
| Dividends declared per share of Class A and Class B common stock | $ | 0.33 | $ | 0.30 | ||||
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VIACOM INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) |
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| (in millions, except par value) |
December 31, 2014 |
September 30, 2014 |
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| ASSETS | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 1,185 | $ | 1,000 | ||||
| Receivables, net | 3,024 | 3,066 | ||||||
| Inventory, net | 870 | 846 | ||||||
| Prepaid and other assets | 391 | 340 | ||||||
| Total current assets | 5,470 | 5,252 | ||||||
| Property and equipment, net | 976 | 1,016 | ||||||
| Inventory, net | 4,100 | 3,897 | ||||||
| Goodwill | 11,495 | 11,535 | ||||||
| Intangibles, net | 372 | 399 | ||||||
| Other assets | 1,003 | 1,018 | ||||||
| Total assets | $ | 23,416 | $ | 23,117 | ||||
| LIABILITIES AND EQUITY | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 370 | $ | 475 | ||||
| Accrued expenses | 710 | 969 | ||||||
| Participants' share and residuals | 949 | 993 | ||||||
| Program obligations | 673 | 703 | ||||||
| Deferred revenue | 252 | 259 | ||||||
| Current portion of debt | 617 | 18 | ||||||
| Other liabilities | 468 | 518 | ||||||
| Total current liabilities | 4,039 | 3,935 | ||||||
| Noncurrent portion of debt | 13,146 | 12,751 | ||||||
| Participants' share and residuals | 289 | 403 | ||||||
| Program obligations | 435 | 459 | ||||||
| Deferred tax liabilities, net | 527 | 266 | ||||||
| Other liabilities | 1,396 | 1,340 | ||||||
| Redeemable noncontrolling interest | 207 | 216 | ||||||
| Commitments and contingencies | ||||||||
| Viacom stockholders' equity: | ||||||||
| Class A common stock, par value $0.001, 375.0 authorized; 50.6 and 50.9 outstanding, respectively | — | — | ||||||
| Class B common stock, par value $0.001, 5,000.0 authorized; 356.7 and 363.3 outstanding, respectively | — | — | ||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 9,914 | 9,772 | ||||||
| Treasury stock, 387.1 and 377.0 common shares held in treasury, respectively | (19,975 | ) | (19,225 | ) | ||||
| Retained earnings | 13,828 | 13,465 | ||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (415 | ) | (293 | ) | ||||
| Total Viacom stockholders' equity | 3,352 | 3,719 | ||||||
| Noncontrolling interests | 25 | 28 | ||||||
| Total equity | 3,377 | 3,747 | ||||||
| Total liabilities and equity | $ | 23,416 | $ | 23,117 | ||||
SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES REGARDING NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The following table reconciles our results for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 to adjusted results that exclude the impact of certain items identified as affecting comparability, including the loss on pension settlement and discrete tax expense. The tax impact included in the table has been calculated using the rate applicable to the adjustment presented. We use consolidated adjusted operating income, adjusted net earnings attributable to Viacom and adjusted diluted earnings per share ("EPS"), as applicable, among other measures, to evaluate our actual operating performance and for planning and forecasting of future periods. We believe that the adjusted results provide relevant and useful information for investors because they clarify our 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 accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, they should not be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, operating income, net earnings 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. There were no adjustments to our results for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.
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Quarter Ended December 31, 2014 |
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| Operating Income | Pre-tax Earnings |
Net Earnings |
Diluted EPS | |||||||||||
| Reported Results | $ | 935 | $ | 790 | $ | 500 | $ | 1.20 | ||||||
| Factors Affecting Comparability: | ||||||||||||||
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Loss on pension settlement (1) |
24 | 24 | 15 | 0.04 | ||||||||||
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Discrete tax expense (2) |
— | — | 23 | 0.05 | ||||||||||
| Adjusted Results | $ | 959 | $ | 814 | $ | 538 | $ | 1.29 | ||||||
| (1) The pre-tax non-cash charge of $24 million was driven by the settlement of pension benefits of certain participants of our funded pension plan. |
| (2) The discrete tax expense is principally related to a reduction in qualified production activity tax benefits as a result of retroactively reenacted legislation. |
