All 11 Viacom (NASDAQ:VIA) Board Members Reelected

All 11 Viacom (NASDAQ:VIA) Board Members Reelected

$VIA

Viacom’s (NASDAQ:VIA) 11 board members were re-elected at the company’s annual meeting in Miami and a proposal to give every shareholder the same voting power was defeated as CEO Philippe Dauman spoke at his 1st meeting as the firm’s Chairman.

While there has been some recent shareholder activism, the voting results at the meeting were not in doubt given that Chairman emeritus Sumner Redstone, 92 anni, controls 80% of the voting power via his company National Amusements company.

A Viacom spokesman said the company’s General Counsel said at the meeting that all board members were re-elected, and the shareholder proposal voted down by a majority, including “a substantial majority of votes not affiliated with National Amusements.”

Full voting results are only expected later in the week.

As of 1:15 p EDT, Viacom’s stock was up 1.5% at 39.86, up from a recent low at 30.11/share.

Non-executive Vice Chair Shari Redstone was the only board member to oppose Mr. Dauman’s ascension to the Chairman role.

Investors voted on a proposal to extend voting rights to all shareholders. While the proposal was certain to fail as Redstone’s holding company controls 80 percent of the shareholder vote and had said it would vote against it, the final voting result will give a sense for how much confidence minority shareholders have in Viacom’s management.

Mr. Redstone owns 79.8% of Viacom’s Class A voting stock via National Amusements, while most other shareholders own Class B shares, which do not have voting rights.

Shareholders reelected the company’s 11 board members, with the size of voting support set to give an indication of how minority shareholders view directors.

“We are making our company stronger to address our changing industry environment and to position us for long-term success,” Mr. Dauman said in his prepared remarks. “We are investing in our future and serving our audiences in new ways; and we are building long-term value for you, our shareholders.”

He also acknowledged: “There is no question that 2015 was a difficult year, for Viacom and for the entire media industry.” He mentioned a revenue decline, as well as lower operating income and net earnings and vowed to position the company for revenue and earnings growth “in the future.” Added Dauman: “As the stewards of Viacom’s businesses and as fellow shareholders, we are not satisfied with [the fiscal-year] results, which we know do not represent what we all have come to expect from Viacom.”

Mr. Dauman said Viacom was following a three-pronged strategy to improve its momentum. First, it is “investing across our company to fuel our rebound,” including in fresh content, he said in his prepared remarks. “The appetite for creative, high-quality original storytelling is greater than ever, and we are investing to meet that growing demand. Viacom is now investing about $4 billion annually in programming for our networks in addition to a significant amount in our film business.”

Second, “we are transforming to drive innovation, creativity and audience insight,” he added. The third focus, Dauman said, was “taking strategic actions that create new opportunities and unlock new value for shareholders.” The planned sale of a stake in Paramount falls into that category, along with “targeted acquisitions” and “continued international expansion,” he said.

Stay tuned…

HeffX-LTN

Paul Ebeling

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