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Seagram 4Q loss widens
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August 19, 1999: 10:13 a.m. ET
But company beats estimates, despite poor showing of film unit
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Beverage and entertainment company Seagram Co. Ltd. reported a wider fiscal fourth-quarter loss Thursday as strong sales of music and wine failed to compensate for its struggling film unit.
However, the results were better than Wall Street expected, and the company's stock jumped 1-5/8 to 51-3/4 in early trading.
The Montreal-based conglomerate lost $129 million, or 32 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30, excluding one-time gains. That compares with a loss of $12 million, or 3 cents per diluted share, excluding special gains, recorded in the year-earlier period.
The consensus estimate for the latest period posted by earnings tracker First Call was for a loss of 42 cents per share.
Including a $128 million gain from transactions involving USA Networks Inc. (USAI) holdings last year, the net loss for the latest period totaled $53 million, or 13 cents per share. In the 1998 period, the company earned $324 million, or 93 cents per share, including gains from the sale of shares of Time Warner Inc. (TWX), the parent company of CNNfn, and discontinued Tropicana beverage operations.
Revenue for the latest period rose to $3.5 billion from $2.1 billion a year earlier. Revenue from spirits and wine rose 6 percent to $1.2 billion, with the biggest gains recorded in North American and the Asia Pacific region.
Seagram President and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. said he was pleased with the "strong earnings growth in music, recreation, and spirits and wine," and the "progress we have made in our film business."
The film unit lost $87 million on an operating basis for the quarter, compared with earnings of $12 million a year earlier. The company said that the performance of recent releases, including "Notting Hill" and "The Mummy" helped the film division, but that problems earlier in the year hurt results.
"Our film business is in the process of a turnaround," Bronfman said. "Additionally, we have a strong slate of films for fiscal 2000."
For the year, net income after discontinued operations totaled $686 million, or $1.81 per diluted share, down from $946 million, or $2.68 per share, in 1998. Revenue rose to $12.3 billion from $9.5 billion in 1998. 
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Seagram
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