Viacom cuts outlook says boardroom fight hurts business

Viacom cuts its earnings perspective Friday, blaming in part the high-stakes battle over control of the entertainment huge.



1 day after the girl of Viacom's elderly major shareholder Sumner Redstone relocated to oust key people of the board associated with directors, the company mentioned it now expects earnings per share in the particular current quarter to come in at just $1. 00-$1. 05, far shy from the average analyst estimate associated with $1. 38.

Viacom mentioned the company suffered within the quarter from bad box-office sales of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" film.

Viacom said this now expects earnings per share in the current quarter to come in at just $1. 00-$1. 05, far shy associated with the average analyst estimate of $1. 38 ?Chris Hondros (Getty/Getty Images/File)
But it also said that a significant agreement on loading video on demand, one of the fastest-growing sections of the entertainment business, had been delayed because of to the fight between a group led simply by chairman and chief professional Phillipe Dauman and vice chair Shari Redstone over that will control the team when her 93-year-old dad dies.

The organization said in a statement it got expected to complete a "significant" SVOD agreement in the current quarter. However, it said, "the latest and highly public governance controversy negatively impacted the timing and its ability to achieve an optimal result with partners. "
The particular announcement came hours right after Sumner Redstone's National R�cr�ation Inc, which has 80 percent control of Viacom, announced the removal of Dauman and four of his allies on the board associated with directors.

Their replacements, allies of Shari Redstone, would strengthen her hands on the board.
Viacom shares, which leaped on Thursday on the particular move to shuffle the board, fell 1. 4 percent to $44. forty-four in late trade Friday.
But the board proceed remains pending the resolution of a lawsuit filed in a Delaware court simply by one of the dismissed directors, Frederic Salerno, seeking to prevent it.
Salerno branded the particular latest move a "brazen and demonstrably invalid attempt" by Shari Redstone to take over the $40 billion entertainment business, which controls hit names like MTV, Nickelodeon, and Humor Central, as well because Hollywood giant Paramount Pictures.

Salerno alleged that Sumner Redstone had always designed that independent professionals rather than family members run the business after he dies.
Nevertheless , he said, Redstone "is being manipulated plus used by his daughter within an attempt to achieve her long-held goal of gaining complete control associated with Viacom. "
On Friday Dauman pembunuh kesepakatan pressed a Ma court to quickly purchase a medical examination of Sumner Redstone to show he is not psychologically competent to make the particular decisions attributed to him by his daughter and lawyers.

In an earlier filing, Dauman characterized Redstone since "a 93-year-old man suffering from overwhelming physical ailments, including an inability in order to speak, stand, walk, eat, write or read. "
Questions are ongoing over whether the 93-year-old Sumner Redstone is mentally proficient to sign off on major corporate moves ?Robyn Beck (AFP/File)
There provides been an ongoing inner struggle at Viacom in between a group led by chairman and chief professional Phillipe Dauman (pictured) and vice chair Shari Redstone over that will control the group when the 93-year-old Sumner Redstone dies ?Sajjad Hussain (AFP/File)