Time Warner hurt by advertising slowdown, but tops estimates

Time Warner Inc. (TWX), the world's largest media company and parent of this Web site, continues to be hurt by a drop-off in advertising sales.

Net income at the owner of Warner Bros. film studios, CNN and AOL fell 14 percent in the first quarter to $661 million, or 55 cent a share, from $771 million, or 65 cents a year earlier. Revenue dropped 7 percent to $6.9 billion as gains in the Networks segment and Filmed Entertainment. could not offset decreases at the AOL and Publishing businesses. Excluding some items, profit was 45 cents, beating the 40-cent estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.