Viacom Inc.: The entertainment company reported a...

Viacom Inc.: The entertainment company reported a profit of $131 million in 1989, contrasted with a loss of $123 million in 1988. The 1989 figure includes a pretax gain of $313 million from the sale of cable systems and the settlement of certain contingencies in the third quarter. The 1988 figure includes a pretax gain of $16.8 million from the sale of shares in Orion Pictures Corp. Revenue for 1989 increased 14% to $1.4 billion. In the fourth quarter of 1989, the New York-based firm, whose operations include the MTV and Showtime cable networks, lost $29.1 million, compared to a loss of $26 million in the same period of 1988. The company attributed the fourth-quarter loss to interest expenses that amounted to $72.4 million in the period.