ViacomCBS: posts quarterly loss as ad sales fall

(CercleFinance.com) - ViacomCBS has reported a quarterly loss and revenue that fell short of expectations on Thursday as depressed advertising sales weighed on business.


The shares of the US content giant dropped as much as 17% in early morning trading following these results, adding to a decline that has seen the stock lose almost 30% so far this year.

In its first earnings report since the merger closed in December, ViacomCBS posted a fourth-quarter net loss of 273 million dollars, or 44 cents per share, compared with a profit of 884 million dollars, or 1.43 dollar per share, the previous year.

The fall in advertising spending, due to a "significant decline in political advertising" compared with a year ago, primarily reflects the company's loss.

Advertising revenue fell by 2% to 3 billion dollars, prompting total revenue to decrease by 3% to below 6.9 billion dollars in the past quarter, a greater-than-expected drop.

Analysts had expected ViacomCBS to report revenue of at least 7 billion dollars.

For the record, the media company operates several high-profile US television networks such as CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central.

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