In this photograph illustration, the Paramount Global brand is displayed on a smartphone display screen.
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Paramount Global fell as a lot as 23% after it reported earnings and income that missed analyst estimates and lower its quarterly dividend.
The firm lower its dividend to five cents per share from 24 cents a share to “additional improve our means to ship long-term worth for our shareholders as we transfer towards streaming profitability,” Chief Executive Officer Bob Bakish mentioned in an announcement. It is the primary time since 2009 that Paramount decreased its dividend. Paramount expects annualized money financial savings of $500 million from the dividend lower.
Paramount Global’s conventional TV income, which consists of CBS and its cable networks corresponding to MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, dropped 8% within the quarter to $5.2 billion. The firm’s movie studio division reported a 6% drop in income year-over-year.
Media firms are struggling to exchange conventional TV income, as clients cancel every quarter, with streaming income as they construct out direct-to-consumer companies. Bakish mentioned the corporate plans to divest non-core belongings because it goals to spice up free money circulate and cease streaming losses by the top of 2024.
This yr will characterize peak losses for Paramount Global’s streaming enterprise, Bakish mentioned.
Streaming income from Paramount+ and Pluto TV, the corporate’s free advertising-supported service, rose 39% to $1.5 billion. But direct-to-consumer losses widened to $511 million from $456 million a yr in the past.
Paramount additionally took an impairment costs of $1.67 billion within the first quarter from content material eliminated on account of combining Paramount+ with Showtime right into a single U.S. streaming platform.
Paramount Global is aiming to sell a majority stake in BET later this year. It tried to divest and merge publishing firm Simon & Schuster last year however the deal was blocked by U.S. regulators.
The firm has restarted the Simon & Schuster sale course of, Bakish mentioned on the earnings name. Paramount hopes to announce a deal to promote the writer by the top of the yr, Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra mentioned on the decision.
Here are the quarterly outcomes the corporate reported, versus analyst estimates, in response to Refinitiv:
- Revenue: $7.27 billion vs. $7.42 billion anticipated
- Earnings per share: 9 cents vs. 17 cents anticipated
Shares traded at $17.70, down 23%, in early buying and selling.
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