Profit Up at Time Warner

NEW YORK: Time Warner reported a second-quarter profit that was up 7 percent on the year prior, due in part to improved advertising sales at its cable networks and box-office proceeds from films such as Clash of the Titans and Sex and the City 2.

Time Warner reported net income of $562 million, up from $524 million a year ago. Revenue climbed 8 percent to $6.38 billion, its highest growth rate in two years.

At its networks, revenues rose 11 percent to $3.2 billion, with growth of 9 percent in subscription revenues, 14 percent in advertising revenues and 10 percent in content revenues.

For filmed entertainment, revenues were up 8 percent to $2.5 billion. At Time Inc. revenues were essentially flat at $919 million, due to a 4-percent increase in advertising revenues, offset by a 23-percent decrease in other revenues, with subscription revenues stable.

Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes said: “Time Warner delivered another quarter of strong financial and operating performance. Our revenue increased at its highest rate in two years, driving 15-percent growth in Adjusted Operating Income.”

Bewkes continued: “Our investments in high-quality content across the company continue to pay off. Turner’s original programming strategy contributed to the quarter’s strong advertising growth and helped to generate pricing gains at the high end of the recent 2010-2011 upfront. HBO achieved impressive audience growth for its returning shows, and it has more original series in development than at any time in its history. Last week, Warner Bros. became the only studio in history whose films surpassed $1 billion at the domestic box office for ten straight years, while its TV production business extended its streak as the number one provider of broadcast network programming. In addition, Time Inc. widened its lead in overall domestic print advertising share through the first six months of 2010. At the same time, we strengthened our balance sheet and returned to stockholders more than $1.5 billion in dividends and share repurchases for the year through June.”