Viacom cuts outlook says boardroom fight hurts business

Viacom cuts its earnings view Friday, blaming in part the high-stakes battle over power over the entertainment large.

One day after the daughter of Viacom's elderly primary shareholder Sumner Redstone moved to oust key members of the board associated with directors, the company mentioned it now expects revenue per share in the current quarter in the future in at just $1. 00-$1. 05, far shy from the average analyst estimate of $1. 38.

Viacom stated the company suffered in the quarter from poor box-office sales of its "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" film.

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

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

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

Salerno alleged that Sumner Redstone had t.co always intended that independent professionals rather than family members operate the company after he passes away.
However , he said, Redstone "is being manipulated plus used by his daughter in an attempt to accomplish her long-held goal associated with gaining complete control associated with Viacom. "
On Fri Dauman pressed a Massachusetts court to quickly order a medical examination associated with Sumner Redstone to show he is not mentally competent to make the decisions attributed to him simply by his daughter and attorneys.

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