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MUMBAI: US media conglomerate CBS has recorded a profit in
the fourth quarter from a year ago period.
This included a major charge to write down the value of its
television and radio businesses
CBS reported net income of $335 million, or 43 cents per
share, in the October-December period. A year ago, the company
reported a loss of $9.14 billion, or $12 per share. That included
a charge of $9.48 billion for the asset impairment.
Operating income for the quarter is up 14 to per cent to
$759.3 million. For the year revenues were $14.3 billion.
This marked an increase of one per cent from the prior year,
with increases of two per cent at television, eight per cent
at outdoor and six per cent at publishing. This was partially
offset by a decline of seven per cent at radio.
For the year, television revenues increased by two per cent
to $9.5 billion from 2005 primarily reflecting increases in
television license fees and affiliate revenues partially offset
by lower home entertainment and advertising revenues. Television
license fees increased by 26 per cent primarily due
to the 2006 availabilities of CSI: Miami, Frasier,
Star Trek: Voyager and Without A Trace.
This was partially offset by the absence of license fees
from the prior year second- cycle cable renewal of Everybody
Loves Raymond. Affiliate revenues increased eight per
cent due to rate increases and subscriber growth at Showtime
and the inclusion of the results of CSTV Networks since its
acquisition in January 2006. Ad revenues decreased by one
per cent from 2005 as higher political ad sales were more
than offset by lower revenues from the absence of UPN and
decreases at CBS Network.
Home entertainment revenues decreased by 68 per cent principally
due to the switch from self-distribution in 2005 to third
party distribution in 2006.
CBS executive chairman Sumner Redstone says, "CBS' first
year out of the gate was a great one. Our strong performance
in the fourth quarter and full year of 2006 is the result
of strategic vision and operational excellence. Leslie and
his team are building our existing businesses to capitalise
on the digital revolution and to position CBS for continued
success well into the future."
CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves says, "CBS' fourth
quarter results capped off a strong first year as a stand-alone
company, Strong fourth quarter operating results at television,
outdoor and publishing helped us surpass our key financial
targets for the year.
"Looking forward, we will continue to focus on running
our core operations effectively; reshaping our portfolio into
better-margin, higher-growth businesses; using the interactive
opportunity to deepen and broaden our relationship with audiences;
and receiving compensation for our content through retransmission
consent agreements and new interactive platforms.
" I am confident that the company is well positioned
to deliver long-term growth, strong cash flow, and increased
value for our shareholders."
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