AOL shares tumble in premarket on weak 1Q results
AOL posts lower-than-expected 1st-qtr profit, shares fall in premarket trading
NEW YORK (AP) -- AOL Inc. said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income jumped 23 percent, helped by an increase in global advertising revenue.
But the profit fell short of Wall Street predictions and AOL shares slumped nearly 10 percent in early trading.
The New York-based internet company earned $25.9 million, or 32 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31, up from $21.1 million, or 22 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2012. Excluding one-time items, the company said it posted an adjusted profit of 41 cents per share.
Revenue rose 2 percent to $583.3 million from $529.4 million.
Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 44 cents per share on $542.6 million in revenue, according to FactSet.
AOL split from Time Warner Inc. in 2009 and has been trying to increase revenue ever since by shedding unprofitable businesses and buying popular sites such as the Huffington Post and the technology blog TechCrunch.
The company said its advertising revenue increased 9 percent to $359.2 million, helped by higher display and search revenue, but that was mostly offset by a 9 percent drop in subscription revenue to $165.8 million.
Shares of AOL, based in New York, fell $4 to $37.42.
