Time Warner Delivers Record Quarterly Profit

NEW YORK: First-quarter net profit at Time Warner rose almost 10 percent to reach $725 million—its highest quarterly profit in company history—on revenues that were up 5.4 percent to $6.3 billion, its biggest gain in almost two years.

"Time Warner is off to a great start in 2010, delivering record financial results for our first quarter," said Jeffrey Bewkes, chairman and CEO. Bewkes attributed the gains to an ad recovery at Turner and Time Inc., and improved home-entertainment revenues at Warner Bros. thanks to releases like The Blind Side and Sherlock Holmes.

Turner Broadcasting and HBO—which make up the Networks business—delivered revenues of $9 billion, a 9-percent gain, with subscription revenues up by 7 percent, ad revenues up 9 percent and content revenues up 22 percent, driven by higher ancillary sales of HBO original programming and higher licensing revenues at Turner. Operating income was $1.2 billion, a gain of 28 percent.

At Warner Bros., revenues were up by 2 percent to $2.7 billion, with gains in theatrical and home revenue partially offset by lower TV licensing fees. Operating income was up by 33 percent to $307 million.