Viacom Will Continue Stock Buyback and Dividend: CEO Dauman

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CNBC.com

Viacom's fourth quarter recently topped Wall Street expectations with a total revenue increase of 5 percent to $3.3 billion, compared to the same period last year.

In addition, the CEO says the company is continuing to fulfill its $4 billion share buyback.

"We started to buy shares on October 1—as our new fiscal year began. We are on track to buy $400 million dollars worth of stock in this quarter. And then we will continue to buy our stock regularly as our cash flow permits while maintaining a very strong leverage ratio of 2.0 or better," Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, told CNBC's "The Strategy Session" on Tuesday.

"At the same time we initiated a cash dividend to our stockholders in the second quarter of this year and we will continue that," Dauman said.

Viacom and other media companies are anticipating higher revenue because auto companies, like GM and Ford, are expected to spend more on advertising now that business is improving and auto sales are rising.

"While autos have not been a big category for our networks historically our share is starting to build in autos and other branded categories," he concluded.

General Motors initial public offering is expected to price Wednesday night and shares are expected to begin trading Thursday.

The New GM
The New GM

The stock is expected to price between $32 and $33 per share, up from the previously reported $26 to $29 per share.

A higher GM share price and an increased offering size means the initial loss to U.S. taxpayers from the bailout of General Motors will be more limited than initially thought. The U.S. Treasury owns nearly 61 percent of GM as a result of its $50 billion taxpayer-funded bailout.