AP -
NEW YORK – CBS Corp. said Thursday it swung to a third-quarter loss, weighed down by a hefty $14.12 billion write-down related to a drop in value of its media assets.
The New York-based media company reported a loss of $12.46 billion, or $18.58 per share, compared with a profit of $343.3 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago.
CBS said earlier this month that it would record the charge to reflect a decreased book value for its radio and TV stations.
Its adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $290.3 million, or 43 cents per share.
For the period ended Sept. 30, revenue rose 3 percent to $3.38 billion from $3.28 billion, helped by the acquisition of CNET Networks in June and the domestic cable syndication sale of “CSI:New York.”
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 40 cents per share on revenue of $3.37 billion.
CBS said the economic downturn has hurt ad sales _ mostly locally _ and warned that recent financial market volatility would likely lead to more ad spending declines.
The media sector has been squeezed as consumers and advertisers curb spending due to the ongoing housing slowdown, rising food costs, eroding credit and recession fears.
President and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said in a statement that CBS would continue to cut costs, and maintained that the company’s $1.4 billion of year-to-date free cash flow would enable it to make investments and pay its dividend.
Corporate expenses fell to $38.5 million from $41.3 million.
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