Viacom to keep reducing debt; S&P reaffirms company’s credit ratings

By Devika Patel

Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 16 – Viacom Inc. has an improved credit profile due to its deleveraging efforts over the past 21 months, and this has been noted by S&P, which reaffirmed the company’s investment-grade rating and removed Viacom from negative watch.

The company plans to keep reducing debt using excess cash flow.

“Over the past 21 months, since we announced our de-levering strategy, we significantly improved our credit profile from both an operational and financial perspective,” executive vice president and chief financial officer Wade Davis said on the company’s fourth quarter and year ended Sept. 30 earnings conference call on Friday.

“These improvements were recognized in the quarter by S&P removing us from negative watch and reaffirming our investment-grade status.

“We plan to continue to pursue opportunities to de-lever, including using our excess cash flow to redeem debt,” he said.

Cash and cash equivalents were $1,557,000,000 as of Sept. 30, 2018, compared to $1,389,000,000 as of Sept. 30, 2017.

For the year, the company generated $1.6 billion of operating free cash flow.

At quarter-end, the company had $10.1 billion of total debt outstanding, a reduction of over $1 billion when compared to the same time last year.

Viacom is a New York-based media company.

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