Time Warner Inc has reported a 44 percent jump in third-quarter earnings, beating Wall Street estimates. The company's cost cutting moves and asset gains helped in the earnings jump.
With marketers turning their focus to web advertising, print media has struggled and Time Warner hasn't been spared - the company is spinning off its publishing business, which includes titles such as Time, Sports Illustrated and People, and will be solely focusing on movie and television entertainment businesses.
Time Warner's earnings surged on the back of higher TV network revenuue, which jumped 5.5 percent to $3.52 billion. Cable networks business showed strong growth with ad revenue up 11 percent, while operating income climbed 20 percent to $1.47 billion.
The company's film and TV entertainment division, however, did not fare as well, reporting a 7 percent slide in revenue at $2.69 billion as it struggled to keep pace with the year-ago period during which the blockbuster "The Dark Knight Rises" was released. Expectedly, the operating income fell 6 percent to $307 million in the latest quarter.
Overall, however, the company reported a profit of $1.18 billion, which was $1.26 per share. This is up from previous year's $822 million or $0.84 per share. The quarter included $113 million in asset gains, mostly from its acquisition of controlling interest in HBO Asia. Excluding the asset agins and other items, Time Warner's per-share earnings stood at $1.01.
The company's revenue was up 0.2 percent to $6.86 billion.
Analysts had estimated earnings of $0.89 per share on revenue of $6.94 billion.
