AOL Says Goodbye to 835K Subscribers

AOL, the Internet service provider owned by media giant Time Warner, said goodbye to 835,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2006, and its operating profits dropped by 17 percent, the United Kingdom’s Times Online reports.

Time Warner shares dropped almost 2 percent due to the announcement, regardless of the fact that the company posted a 59 percent increase in net income due to strong performance by its cable unit, according to the Times.

The company’s total net income in the first quarter was $1.46 billion, according to Time Warner, compared with last year’s first-quarter revenue of $915 million, the Times reports. Time Warner’s revenue remained relatively static at $10.46 billion, compared to $10.36 billion in the same period last year, according to the Times.

AOL’s revenue fell 7 percent to $1.98 billion, due largely to its loss of subscribers, the Times reports. The ISP’s operating income dropped 17 percent to $442 million, and though the company expects to see its subscriber base continue to decrease into the second quarter, it predicts the trend will shift during the second half of the year, according to the Times.

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