ENTERTAINMENT

Paramount Posts Sharp Decline in Earnings: For the three months ended Jan. 31, Paramount Communications Inc. earned $900,000, or 1 cent per share, down from $18.4 million, or 16 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter fell 12% to $943.7 million from $1.07 billion a year earlier. The New York-based entertainment firm cited a weak performance in films, lower results from its TV stations and seasonal losses in publishing for the lower first-quarter earnings. The company said it anticipates its earnings momentum will build in the second half as a promising slate of films goes into theaters, publishing results improve and its theme parks begin to make bigger contributions as the weather improves.