Viacom Inc., the media conglomerate controlled by Sumner Redstone, reported an 80 percent jump in third-quarter earnings Friday, boosted by the sale of a music publishing business and box office receipts from its movie “Transformers.”Viacom, which owns MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures, earned $641.6 million, or 96 cents per share, in the three months ending in September, up from $356.8 million, or 50 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
The latest results included a $192 million gain from the sale of Famous Music, a music publishing business.
Excluding that and other one-time items including a $3 million restructuring charge in the latest quarter and compensation charges of $62 million in the year-ago period following the departure of Tom Freston as CEO, adjusted operating income rose 14 percent to $818 million, or 65 cents per share.
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