Time Warner profits from strong DVD sales
TIME Warner posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit yesterday on a rebound in advertising sales at its cable networks and magazines, as well as strong DVD sales of “The Blind Side” and “Sherlock Holmes.”
Net income rose 10 per cent to $725m (£480m) after a nine per cent a rise in advertising sales. Overall the firm’s revenue rose five per cent to $6.32bn. The results were also helped by higher fees that cable operators pay Time Warner to carry cable channels such as CNN and TNT.
“The numbers were impressive. The networks are going to surprise people,” said Thomas Eagan, analyst at Collins Stewart.
The future of CNN has been the subject of speculation in recent months as it has lost ground to News Corporation’s Fox News, which is the most watched news network on US cable television. But Eagan said CNN had held its ground in financial terms for Time Warner.