Annual Profit Down 32% at Dick Clark Productions

Dick Clark Productions announced Monday it posted 10% higher earnings in the fourth quarter ended June 30, but that its profit for the year dropped 32%.

The Burbank entertainment company posted earnings of $211,000, or 2 cents a share, for the quarter and $2.6 million, or 34 cents a share, for the year. Revenue was down sharply, falling 15% for the quarter, to $4.8 million, and 11% for the year, to $28.9 million.

First Year-End Figures

The results are the first year-end results for the Burbank television and film company, which is controlled by television personality Dick Clark, since it went public in January.

Part of the slowdown was due to declining revenue from its “Puttin’ on the Hits” program, fewer television movies and specials, higher taxes and the industrywide decline in advertising revenue.

Like most entertainment companies that have gone public recently, Dick Clark Productions’ stock has suffered as Wall Street has soured on many of the new entertainment issues.

On Monday, Dick Clark Productions closed at $4 a share, down 12.5 cents from Friday. In January, during its public offering, the stock was sold for $6.50 a share.

Quarterly earnings were up, the company said, as a result of profits from “In Person From the Palace,” a concert show the company produced for CBS that is now off the air.

Soft Industry Conditions

The company said the drop in earnings and profit for the year were expected because of soft industry conditions. Chief financial officer Ken Ferguson said that “Puttin’ On the Hits” was hurt by the overall decline in advertising sales.

Despite that drop, the company said, it expects an upturn in demand for entertainment programs and plans to increase its development of comedies and dramatic television shows.

This month, “American Bandstand,” which Clark has hosted as a local and ABC network show for 35 years, debuted in first-run syndication on independent stations and network affiliates instead of on major networks.

Clark took the program into syndication because ABC, which aired it for 30 years, cut the dance show back to a half-hour from its traditional hour-long format, citing declining ratings.