Viacom fiscal 3Q earnings grow 37 percent

NEW YORK — Viacom Inc., the owner of MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures, said Friday that its net income increased 37 percent in the latest quarter, thanks to growing advertising sales and higher fees from cable TV and other companies that carry its channels.

The company, which is controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone, earned $574 million, or 97 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter that ended on June 30. That's up 37 percent from $420 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, adjusted earnings were 99 cents per share. That's well above the 86 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.

Viacom's revenue rose 15 percent to $3.77 billion from $3.28 billion. Analysts were expecting $3.52 billion.

President and CEO Philippe Dauman said the "breadth of hit programming found across Viacom's media network portfolio" is contributing to strong advertising growth.

Worldwide advertising revenue grew 14 percent to $1.28 billion, while U.S. ad sales increased 12 percent during the quarter. The U.S. and worldwide growth rates were slightly higher than what Viacom saw in the previous quarter, further sign that the advertising market is improving.

Viacom said revenue at its media networks segment, which includes MTV, Nickelodeon and other TV channels, grew 16 percent to $2.39 billion. The company's filmed entertainment segment, which includes Paramount, saw revenue increase 13 percent to $1.41 billion thanks to gains in DVD sales and TV license revenue.