Viacom net income drops 36%

Viacom Inc.’s earnings fell 36% in the first quarter, weighed down by higher marketing expenses for movies and a restructuring charge at its MTV group, the media company reported Thursday, but the results still beat analysts’ estimates.

New York-based Viacom, which is controlled by media mogul Sumner Redstone and split off from CBS Corp. a year ago, earned $202.9 million, or 29 cents a share, in the three months ended March 31, down from $317.2 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier.

In addition to MTV, Viacom also owns Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, VH1 and BET.

Excluding the after-tax cost of $35 million for the charges at MTV, the per-share earnings were equivalent to 34 cents, ahead of the 32 cents that analysts were expecting, according to Thomson Financial.

Revenue grew 16% to $2.75 billion.

Viacom’s Class B nonvoting shares declined 51 cents to $41.51.

Operating income fell 29% to $442.8 million from $623.5 million a year earlier, weighed down by the restructuring charge at MTV Networks and an increase of $170 million in advertising costs in the United States at Viacom’s movie division.