Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2010/08/04/aol_q2_results/
AOL sales drop by a quarter, reports billion dollar loss
'Getting healthier everyday'
Posted in On-Prem, 4th August 2010 13:19 GMT
AOL blew another hole in its finances today after the internet veteran posted a massive quarterly loss, having swallowed a Q2 goodwill impairment charge related to its sell-off of Bebo.
Worse still, the company saw its advertising revenue plummet 27 per cent to $296.9m in the quarter ended 30 June. In the same period a year earlier AOL pulled in $407.2m.
Total revenues dropped 26 per cent to $584.1m during the quarter.
The company recorded a second quarter loss of $1.06bn, or $9.89 a share, compared with a profit of $90.7m or 86 cents a share in its 2009 Q2. AOL was also hit with a goodwill impairment charge of $1.4bn during the quarter.
“The underlying drivers of the impairment were a significant increase in net assets due principally to cash provided by continuing operations and a significant deferred tax asset associated with Bebo concurrent with a significant decline in AOL's stock price since April,” the firm sombrely noted.
AOL bought the dilapidated social networking site just two years ago for $850m.
Despite all that, the firm’s chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong insisted in a terse statement that AOL was "getting healthier every day".
He added: "Although we have much more significant goals for the future of AOL, we are pleased with this quarter's internal and external trends.” ®