AOL has posted higher than expected profits, despite the burden of restucting costs following its separation from Time Warner.
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.
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.
The 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 websites, rolling out a new Web advertising system and laying off employees.
“I am very proud of what we accomplished in 2010 as we began the year with a significant restructuring of AOL and ended the year with a significantly improved balance sheet, a number of exciting new products and a new culture focused on winning,” said Tim Armstrong, chairman and CEO, in a statement.
Advertising revenue at AOL’s properties fell 23 percent to $247.5 million. Third-party network ad revenue tumbled 43 percent to $84.1 million as AOL shut down European businesses and shifted focus away from lower-margin products.