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Seagram sees film unit loss
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December 9, 1998: 12:14 p.m. ET
Universal Pictures to lose $65M due to disappointing 'Babe,' 'Joe Black'
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Disappointing holiday season box office performances continued to plague Universal Pictures, parent company Seagram Co. Ltd. said Wednesday.
The filmed entertainment unit is expected to lose $65 million in the fiscal second quarter, ending Dec. 31, and could post a modest loss for the year ending June 30, 1999.
A spokesman said Seagram hasn't calculated the effect of the unit's loss on its overall second-quarter and fiscal 1999 results.
Seagram (VO) said the unit's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- referred to as EBITDA -- were $98 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 1997. That included a $58 million contribution from USA Networks Inc., in which Seagram sold a majority stake to HSN Inc. earlier this year.
As a result, USA Networks, in which Seagram still holds a 46 percent stake, won't contribute to EBITDA for the current quarter or full year.
The estimates of Universal's losses also don't include charges that may be taken as a result of the recently completed $10.2 billion acquisition of PolyGram, Seagram said.
Universal's box office woes have been widely publicized and have lasted throughout much of 1998. Its current films, including "Psycho," "Babe: Pig in the City" and "Meet Joe Black" have underperformed expectations, continuing a string of failures that included "Primary Colors" and "Mercury Rising" earlier in the year.
The poor performances resulted in last month's departure of the chairmen of both Universal Pictures, Casey Silver, and its Universal Studios parent, Frank Biondi Jr.
Seagram stock was down 5/8 to 36-1/8 in late-morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 
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