Executive Business Briefing

Here is a look at Wednesday's top business stories:

Viacom posts fourth-quarter profit

NEW YORK, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Viacom Inc., citing strong advertising sales at its CBS television network, said it posted a fourth-quarter net income of $652 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with net loss of $43 million, or 2 cents a share during the same period a year earlier.

The media company, which also owns Paramount Pictures and cable networks MTV and Nickelodeon, said its revenue rose 12 percent to $6.8 billion from $6 billion a year ago, led by 14 percent growth in advertising revenues.

Analysts on Wall Street had expected Viacom to post a net income of 34 cents a share, according to Thomson First Call.

Operating income surged to $1.3 billion from $277 million, reflecting strong growth in the television, cable networks and entertainment segments, Viacom said.

Sumner M. Redstone, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "Our fourth quarter results are yet another indication that Viacom has the right assets, the right management and the right strategy to continue to grow year after year.

"We built momentum throughout the year, culminating with an outstanding performance by most of our core businesses in the fourth quarter. We also continued our strategic program of opportunistic acquisitions and used our strong balance sheet to enhance value for our shareholders through share repurchases. Our performance in 2002 is but a forerunner of what we expect to accomplish in 2003," Redstone said.

Mel Karmazin, president and chief operating officer, said, "Viacom turned in a record performance in 2002, delivering 17 percent growth in earnings per share including 54 percent growth in earnings per share in the fourth quarter. The company's performance in the fourth quarter was led by double-digit operating income and EBITDA growth in cable networks, television, and entertainment.

"It was a year of accomplishments creatively, operationally and financially in every division of the company and our business performance was paced by a 5 percent increase in advertising sales, with fourth quarter ad sales increasing 14 percent," Karmazin said.

"We are off to a strong start in 2003 and we intend to continue to focus on combining new efficiencies with smart investments in programming that will drive revenue growth particularly in our high margin, high growth businesses," he added.

Looking head, the company said it expects to deliver mid-single digit revenue growth resulting in double-digit EBITDA growth and mid-teen growth in operating income and earnings per share for the full year 2003.

Viacom currently owns CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, BET, Paramount Pictures, Viacom Outdoor, Infinity, UPN, The New TNN, TV Land, CMT: Country Music Television, Showtime, Blockbuster, and Simon & Schuster.

Earnings rise at Coca-Cola

ATLANTA, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Coca-Cola Co. said its fourth-quarter net income rose to $930 million, or 38 cents a share, from $914 million, or 37 cents a share during the same period a year earlier.

Excluding an accounting charge of 2 cents a share related to stock-based compensation, the soft drink giant said it posted a net income 40 cents a share in the latest quarter.

Analysts on Wall Street had expected Coca-Cola to post a net income of 40 cents a share, according to Thomson First Call.

The world's largest soft drink maker said its revenue rose 13 percent to $4.8 billion from $4.24 billion a year ago while worldwide unit case volume, a key measure of financial health in the beverage industry, grew 6 percent overall and 5 percent in North America. One unit case equals 24 eight-ounce servings.

The company noted unit case volume benefited from the recent strategic acquisitions and license agreements on brands such as Evian, Danone waters and Seagram's mixers.

Coca-Cola said if the unit case volume associated with the brands acquired during 2002 were excluded, the fourth quarter unit case growth rate would have been 4 percent.

Doug Daft, chairman and chief executive officer, said "Over the past year, the Coca-Cola Company made considerable progress by delivering strong financial results, growing its brands, strengthening bottler relationships, and enhancing its corporate governance practices. In 2002, we began expensing stock options for the first time, resulting in an additional $373 million of expenses in our financial results. Even after considering this, we generated operating income at the highest levels in our company's history.

"Throughout the year, we outpaced the rest of the industry in each of the major beverage categories. We grew our carbonated soft drinks by 2 percent during the year and noncarbonated beverages by 28 percent. In the juices and juice drinks category, our growth of 21 percent was well ahead of the industry's 4 percent growth. Across 70 countries, Powerade grew 25 percent and was ahead of the industry average, while our water business grew by 68 percent, well above the global industry's 8 percent rate," Daft said.

"Overall, we were pleased with our results in 2002 in the face of a difficult macroeconomic environment, and we are confident about how we will execute in 2003," he added.

Tasty Baking posts loss

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Tasty Baking Co., the maker of Tastykake snack cakes, said it posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $6 million, or 74 cents a share, compared with a net income of $652,000, or 8 cents a share during the same period a year earlier.

The company noted its latest results included a $3 million, or 36 cent a share after-tax restructuring charge and a $2.8 million, or 34 cent a share pension expense.

Net sales rose to $39.5 million from $39.3 million a year ago.

Charles P. Pizzi, president and chief executive officer, said, "The fourth quarter results were in line with the update the company provided on Dec. 30, 2002. In addition to the special charges, the fourth quarter results were negatively impacted by increased promotional spending and a shift in our sales and product mix. These factors caused a decline in our margins and the resulting loss in profitability."

Tasty Baking operates two bakeries in the mid-Atlantic region and distributes its products under the Tastykake brand name.