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Aol subscribers down 846 000 { July 24 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32817-2003Jul23.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32817-2003Jul23.html
AOL Subscribers Down by 846,000
Questions on Deal Delay Cable Spinoff; Parent Company's Earnings Still Rise
By David A. Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 24, 2003; Page E01
America Online's subscriber base plunged by 846,000 in the second quarter, as hundreds of thousands left for cheaper or faster Internet connections and a similar number were dropped because they had been mistakenly counted in the past, AOL Time Warner Inc. disclosed yesterday.
In addition, new disclosures about a federal investigation into improper accounting at Northern Virginia-based America Online Inc. showed that the division's legal problems are hurting other parts of the AOL Time Warner media empire.
AOL Time Warner said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission would not allow it to spin off a portion of its cable television unit until it resolves a dispute over how to account for hundreds of millions of dollars in questionable revenue from a complex deal with German media firm Bertelsmann AG.
AOL Time Warner also said it may restate previously reported profits and sales linked to the Bertelsmann transaction. And the company indicated that it could not determine how long the SEC and Justice Department investigations into its bookkeeping practices will last.
The company said its profit increased to $1.1 billion (23 cents per share) in the second quarter, from $396 million (9 cents) in the second quarter of 2002. Revenue increased about 6 percent, to $10.8 billion. The profit figure included a number of substantial one-time gains from the settlement of a lawsuit with Microsoft Corp. and the sale of various businesses.
Despite solid results in divisions other than America Online, AOL Time Warner shares fell yesterday by $1.14, or 6.8 percent, to $15.71, as analysts and major investors reacted to the continuing uncertainty caused by the SEC investigation, the threat of increasingly costly shareholder lawsuits, the deterioration in America Online's performance, and disappointment that the strength of AOL Time Warner's film, publishing and cable television operations did not prompt the company to substantially increase its financial projections.
"Our goal for the remainder of this year is to keep laying the foundation that will enable us to exit 2003 with more momentum than we had when we entered it, with an eye toward achieving, strong sustainable growth next year and beyond," said Richard D. Parsons, chairman and chief executive of AOL Time Warner.
AOL, the nation's biggest Internet service provider, has shed a total of 1.2 million subscribers over the past year and now has 25.3 million subscribers in the United States.
The company said the total includes 2.2 million high-speed subscribers, an increase of 300,000 over the past three months. During that period, AOL launched an enhanced high-speed offering and promoted it with an advertising campaign titled, "AOL for Broadband: Welcome to the World Wide Wow."
In addition to losing dial-up subscribers faster than expected, AOL is predicting that its online advertising revenue will drop about 40 percent in 2003. The decline is occurring even though the total dollars spent on advertising online is growing nationally, a trend that can be seen in the financial results of some of America Online's competitors, including search engines Yahoo and Google and many specialized Web sites.
AOL Time Warner had sought to persuade SEC investigators that they were mistakenly challenging the accounting for the two-part Bertelsmann deal. But the company said yesterday that the commission has refused to back down.
"The company and its auditors continue to believe the accounting for those transactions is appropriate, but it is possible that the company may learn additional information as a result of its own review, discussions with the SEC and/or the SEC's ongoing investigation that would lead [AOL Time Warner] to reconsider its views," the firm disclosed.
The Bertelsmann deal involved AOL's sale of roughly $400 million in advertising to Bertelsmann in connection with the purchase of Bertelsmann's stake in AOL Europe.
AOL Time Warner released its second-quarter results prior to the opening of stock trading yesterday morning. Although it cut its projections for America Online, the company beat Wall Street estimates as its cable television, motion picture and publishing businesses thrived.
"Our solid results in this quarter and the first half of the year give us confidence that we can deliver on all of our 2003 financial objectives," Parsons said. He added that the company is continuing to reduce its hefty debt through the sale of businesses and the spending of billions of dollars of excess cash generated by operations.
The Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema movie units generated $572 million and $239 million, respectively, at the box office in the United States. "The Matrix Reloaded" led the way among new releases, while "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" boosted DVD and CD sales.
"On balance," said Deutsche Bank, "we think this report is good news."
In a conference call with analysts, Parsons said he was no longer counting on the sale of stock in Time Warner Cable to generate cash for debt reduction this year. Instead, he said, the handling of any cable spinoff will be determined by broader issues, including the best way to help that subsidiary grow.
"The specific timetable for executing an IPO will depend on strategic considerations, not balance sheet imperatives, as well as the status of our SEC investigations," Parsons said.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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