CBS Corp. (CBS) named a new head of its international outdoor advertising business amid steep declines in that division's revenue and profits.

Antonio Alonso, chief development officer for CBS Outdoor International, replaced Clive Punter as chief executive of the division, reporting directly to CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves.

Punter stepped down, effective immediately, a week after CBS reported its international outdoor revenue dropped 36% to $156 million, due to weak ad markets in Europe and foreign currency exchange rates. The performance continued a string of disappointments for the business.

Ed Atorino, analyst with The Benchmark Co., said the business has fared worse than competitors, like Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. (CCO), which reported a 29% decline in its international revenue for the second quarter.

"Like all advertising-related businesses, Outdoor is having a challenging year," CBS spokeswoman Shannon Jacobs said. "We believe in the basic business model and anticipate that the unit will return to form when the economy improves."

For the first half of 2009, CBS Outdoor International swung to an operating loss of $40 million from earnings of $12.7 million in the year-ago period.

The results are particularly stinging for CBS because the outdoor advertising business - which places advertisements at roadside billboards, public transit stations, stadiums and shopping centers - has been viewed by investors as less exposed to the technological changes that are disrupting traditional business models in other areas of media where CBS has a heavy presence, like TV and radio broadcasting.

Anthony Diclemente, analyst with Barclays Capital, said outdoor advertising is suffering "a severe impact" from the ad spending downturn caused by the global economic recession, but "investors remain positive on the longer-term" prospects for the business.

For his part, Alonso played a key role last April in CBS' $110.8 million acquisition of International Outdoor Advertising Group, the leading outdoor advertising company in South America. Moonves said in a statement that his work in melding that business with others in the CBS portfolio demonstrated that he's "a first-class outdoor executive with a deft hand in dealing with foreign clients and constituencies."

In his new role, Alonso will oversee CBS' international portfolio of outdoor business in places like the U.K., Ireland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and mainland China.

The company's domestic and international outdoor advertising business made up around 13% of CBS' consolidated revenue in the first half of 2009. During that time, Outdoor's expenses were cut 9% to $570 million as the media giant took measures to restructure many of its businesses.

Jean-Francois Decaux, co-chief executive of the world's largest outdoor advertising company, JCDecaux SA (DEC.FR), recently told Dow Jones Newswires that he would be interested in assets in the U.S., particularly Clear Channel Outdoor or CBS Outdoor, if they were for sale.

"As for CBS, one feels that outdoor advertising is not a core business," Decaux said. "What matters to them is media content."

On the CBS earnings conference call, Moonves dismissed talk of a sale of the outdoor business, saying it's showing signs of stabilization with sales pacing showing some improvement.

"We believe Outdoor will perform well over the long-term, especially the investments we made in digital boards and emerging international markets," Moonves said.

-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; (212) 416-2472; nat.worden@dowjones.com