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Seagram uncaps 4Q loss
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August 17, 2000: 9:44 a.m. ET
Media and spirits company beats Wall Street estimates as film unit posts profit
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Seagram Co., the media and spirits company that is slated to merge with France's Vivendi later this year, reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its fiscal fourth quarter that included a return to profitability by its beleaguered film unit.
The New York-based company lost $128 million, or 29 cents per share, before special items during its fiscal quarter ended June 30. That was only slightly narrower than the $129 million, or 32 cents, it lost a year earlier, but substantially better than the 35 cents per share loss analysts polled by research firm First Call Corp. expected.
Seagram's fourth-quarter EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), a measure media companies generally use to measure their performance, closed at $41 million, up 70 percent from a year-earlier.
Revenue for the quarter climbed 5 percent to $3.7 billion, led by a rise in music revenue, which jumped 6.6 percent to $1.43 billion. The company's music division, Universal Music Group, also saw its earnings climb 56 percent to a record $217 million.
 Perhaps more important was the turnaround of Seagram's film division, which company officials have been predicting would return to profitability next year.
Strong fourth-quarter performances from "Erin Brockovich," "Gladiator" and "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps" helped the film unit post quarterly EBITA of $5 million. The unit still lost about $136 million for the year, but showed a significant improvement from the $200 million it lost during fiscal 1999.
"We projected earlier this year that filmed entertainment would return to profitability in fiscal year 2001, and our fourth-quarter results indicate that we are on track," Seagram's Chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr., said.
The company's spirits unit, which reportedly is up for sale, saw its revenue climb 3 percent during the quarter while profits rose 7 percent.
For the full year, Seagram earned $34 million, or 8 cents per share before special items, down from $215 million, or 57 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 27 percent to $15.7 billion.
Seagram agreed to merge with Vivendi last June in a $34 billion tie-up that will create the world's No.2 media concern. 
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Seagram
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