By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Embattled media company Viacom says it's fielding interest from investors who want to take a strategic minority stake in its movie studio, Paramount Pictures, heeding calls from shareholders frustrated at the company's sagging performance.
CEO Philippe Dauman told an investor conference in New York that he'll pursue discussions with a select group of potential investors with an aim to conclude the process by the end of June.
The exploration for a strategic investor comes as Viacom shareholders are increasingly frustrated. The stock is down nearly 60 percent since July 2014 and there is uncertainty about who will control the company after founder Sumner Redstone.
Redstone's health and mental capacity are the subject of a trial in Los Angeles, while Dauman and Redstone's daughter Shari are positioning themselves as the best caretakers of a trust that will control nearly 80 percent of the voting stock in both CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. upon Sumner Redstone's death.
There has been speculation that bidders for a stake in Paramount include Chinese firms like e-commerce giant Alibaba, which invested in Paramount's "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation," and helped sell advance tickets through its Taobao movie site.
A joint venture with a Chinese firm could also help win Paramount movies cherished co-production status in that country, allowing for a greater share of box office revenues and choice release dates in what will likely be the world's largest theatrical movie market in just a few years.
Last month, Legendary Entertainment, the U.S. studio that backed hit films such as "The Dark Knight" and "Inception," was acquired for $3.5 billion by the Chinese theater chain owner Dalian Wanda, which also owns U.S. chain AMC.
Paramount, the Hollywood studio behind franchises like the rebooted "Star Trek" series, has had a rough time lately. In the most recent quarter, its losses more than doubled to $146 million while revenue sank 15 percent.
Analysts say Paramount is worth about $3.5 billion to $4 billion but remains underappreciated. It has a 104-year history, a film library that includes titles from the "Indiana Jones" and "Godfather" series and a slate of upcoming blockbusters such as "Star Trek Beyond," due out this July, as well as sequels to "Transformers" and "World War Z" expected in 2017.
Mario Gabelli, whose Gabelli Asset Management Inc. owns 10 percent of Viacom's voting shares and who has called for a shake-up at Viacom, tweeted that the move was a "logical first step."
Jefferies analyst John Janedis said in a research note Tuesday an investment would help "set a floor value for the asset – a benefit for the stock."
Viacom Inc.'s Class B shares edged up 10 cents to $36.96 in late afternoon trading Tuesday after rising as much as 7 percent earlier in the day.
Nintendo reports lower profits as demand drops for its aging Switch console
Nintendo, the Japanese video game maker behind the Super Mario franchise, said Tuesday that its profit fell 60% in the first half of the fiscal year, as demand waned for its Switch console, now in its eighth year since going on sale.
Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. reported a 108.7 billion yen ($715 million) profit for the April-September period, as sales slipped 34% from the previous year to 523 billion yen ($3.4 billion).
More than 74% of its sales revenue came from overseas, according to Nintendo, which didn't break down quarterly numbers.
Global Switch sales during the period dropped to 4.7 million machines from 6.8 million units the previous year.
But Nintendo said in a statement that Switch sales were still growing and vowed to stick to its goal of selling a Switch console to each and every individual, not just one Switch per every household.
Nintendo stuck to its earlier projection for a 300 billion yen ($2 billion) profit for the full fiscal year through March 2025, down nearly 29% from the previous fiscal year.
Annual sales were forecast to drop 23% to1.28 trillion yen ($8.4 billion).
It also lowered its Switch sales projection for the fiscal year to 12.5 million units from an earlier forecast to sell 13.5 million.
Nintendo and other game and toy makers rake in their biggest profits during the Christmas shopping season, as well as New Year's, a holiday celebrated with fanfare in Japan, when children receive cash gifts from grandparents and other relatives.
Nintendo has not yet announced details on a successor to the Switch.
Among its million-seller game software titles for the fiscal half were "Paper Mario RPG," which sold 1.95 million units since going on sale in May, and "Luigi Mansion 2... Read More