AOL Time Warner Posts Loss of Nearly $100 Billion!!!

Reuters ^ | January 29, 2003

[Timesink]

AOL TW Posts Loss of Nearly $100 Billion

Wed January 29, 2003 04:56 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - AOL Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company, on Wednesday posted a loss for all of 2002 of nearly $100 billion, the largest annual loss in U.S. history, after taking a $45.5 billion charge in the fourth quarter to write down the value of assets.

AOL reported a fourth quarter net loss of $44.9 billion, or $10.04 a share, after taking the non-cash charge to write down the value of its embattled America Online business and other assets, compared to a year-ago loss of $1.8 billion, or 41 cents a share.

The company, which in the first quarter had reported a net loss of $54 billion after writing down the value of assets, posted a full-year 2002 net loss of $98.7 billion.

The full-year loss exceeded the gross domestic product of Egypt in 2001.

Strength in the company's film/entertainment business, with hits like the "Lord of the Rings" sequel, and cable networks offset weakness in the fourth quarter at America Online, which has been suffering from a sharp slowdown in advertising spending and subscriber growth.

The quarter capped a tumultuous year. About two years after AOL completed its $106.2 billion purchase of Time Warner, the old media veterans from Time Warner are running the show and the key architects of the deal have been forced out amid calls from angry investors that view the merger as a failure.

AOL Time Warner said its revenue in the quarter grew 8 percent to $11.4 billion.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) -- a key measure of cash flow --- rose 16 percent to $2.8 billion from a year-earlier for the quarter.

Analysts polled by Multex expected, on average, EBITDA of $2.6 billion.

The company said it sees revenue growth for the 2003 full year in the mid-single digits and said it sees EDITDA to be essentially unchanged to down in the low-single digits.

Earlier on Wednesday, AOL Time Warner said it sold its 8.4 percent stake in Hughes Electronics Corp. as part of its efforts to cut its debt load.

The company said it plans to reduce total consolidated debt to approximately $20 billion by the end of 2004.

Shares of AOL closed up 30 cents, or 2.2 percent, at $13.96 on the New York Stock Exchange ahead of the results.

[Ingtar]

http://www.nomoreaolcds.com

[CheneyChick]

They send me 20 of those stupid AOL disks a year, which I promptly throw in the trash.

LOL. I know someone in Silicon Valley who uses them for beverage coasters.

Cheers, CC :)

[Jumper]

I like to think that the Democrat induced Netscape purchase by AOL, who in turn was purchased by AT&T, in turn scraffed up by the Ted Turner Time-Warner anit-Microsoft Crowd is getting their just deserved. Microsoft is challenging Tiem-Warner/CNN in the domestic cable industry by proxy company in building a fiber optic H across the US which started in the fall of 99 with about 500 small cable companies bought out and brought together - Ted Turner's faith in government rather than the free market to make honest money is what cost him and many their fortunes; trusing political induced profits is always something that a vote can change and in 2000 that happened!

[coloradan]

They make good targets.

[Timesink]

AOL currently down $1.06 in after-hours trading. That's almost exactly TEN PERCENT. In an hour and a half! BWA-HA-HAAA!

[GalvestonBeachcomber]

Most of that money was spent sending me AOL CD's in the mail.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I never went to business school but I think a good solution would be for them to offer a good and fairly priced product. AOL never seemed to care about either. If I got a MBA degree, could I too learn to make decisions that lose several billion dollars?

[Grampa Dave]

Well this is taking care of at least three of our favorite rat run companies and former big time donors to the DNC:

1. AOL
2. Time/Warner
3. CNN or the Clintoonian Noodle Nuts

The DNC gets more bad news!

[Grampa Dave]

This loss could finance the war against Iraq, Iran, Syria, N Korea and probably bail California out.

Any business that did great from 1993 to Jan 2001 and the CEO's and were big time friends of the Clintoons, the Da$$holes, and other Rat Politicians are truly endangered species.

Sell their stock and short them until they go belly up.

[2Jedismom]

I feel so guilty about signing up just to view that Two Towers trailer, only to cancel it the next day...

I feel so soo guilty...

[HairOfTheDog]

It is your fault, isn't it?

[VMI70]

You are so right. It's almost hard to put in perspective.

100 billion days is roughly 274 million years. (I sure hope my math is right. )
Man first appeared in Africa about 2 million years ago.

Scary, isn't it?

Not as scary as this:

US government spending: 1.703 trillion (1999)

[AmericaUnited]

I hope they don't go under. I like the free metal CD mailers they supply me with on a monthly basis.

[HaveGunWillTravel]

Yay!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wonder how TIME's circulation is doing...?

[oyez]

Looks kie Wiley Coyote just caught up with The Roadrunner.

[Who dat?]

I like the free metal CD mailers they supply me with on a monthly basis.

What are they good for? Just outta curiosity. I've got quite a few and can't think of anything.

[ChadGore]

100 Billion. That's a lot of AOL CDs drink coasters.

[Luna]

I like the free metal CD mailers they supply me with on a monthly basis.

What are they good for? Just outta curiosity. I've got quite a few and can't think of anything.

I like to etch pictures on the shiny side. It looks really cool.

[2Jedismom]

Probably...they were depending on me, I guess. I can just see the headlines now..."Slightly pudgy housewife at fault for the demise of AOL Time Warner".