Viacom shares fall by 21%

Viacom CEO and president Philippe Dauman defended his record yesterday as the company’s quarterly results sparked a 21% fall in its share price.

Philippe Dauman

Dauman, who replaced 92-year-old Sumner Redstone as exec chairman last week, said in a call with analysts that the company’s “outlook and the facts have been distorted and obscured by the naysayers, self-interested critics and publicity seekers.”

The US media giant, which is behind networks such as MTV, Spike, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, slashed its revenue predictions as investors fretted over the firm’s deals with cable and telcos such as Dish, Comcast and AT&T.

The value of shares fell by over 50% during the year, with the latest drop shedding US$3bn from the firm’s market value. Viacom’s quarterly revenues were down partly as a result of poor advertising returns.