Internet company AOL Inc. says its fourth-quarter net income grew despite lower revenue, as the year-ago results were weighed down by restructuring costs related to its separation from Time Warner Inc. and other items.
AOL said Wednesday its net income for the October-December quarter was $66.2 million, or 61 cents per share. This is up from $1.4 million, or a penny per share, in the same quarter a year ago, when the company booked $106.3 million in restructuring expenses.
“A year ago we were dealing with a ‘sick company’ and laying off 30 percent of our work force,” said CEO Tim Armstrong in a conference call with analysts. “We have come a long way and our journey is just beginning.”
Revenue fell 26 percent to $596 million from $806.7 million. The company attributed a big chunk of this decline to changes it is making to turn its business around, including the selling of unprofitable units, including European operations and the social network Bebo. Search and display ad revenue also declined.
Even so, AOL’s results surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a profit of 52 cents per share and revenue of $589.7 million.
Analysts were expecting a bumpy quarter from AOL amid its turnaround efforts, which has also included acquiring new businesses, launching and relaunching Web sites, rolling out a new Web advertising system and laying off employees.
Armstrong said he sees 2011 as a “comeback year” for AOL as it finishes working on its turnaround and starts expanding its ad business in the second half of the year. Rivals have been faring better. Online search leader Google Inc. recently reported a 26 percent jump in fourth-quarter ad revenue, and Yahoo Inc.’s ad revenue fell 10 percent in the same period.
AOL’s advertising revenue plunged 29 percent to $331.6 million from $468.6 million. Of…