AOL took another hit in revenues last quarter, with total sales dropping to $584.1 million compared to $664 million in the first quarter of 2010 and significantly down from $791.5 million in the same period last year.
Wall Street consensus was total revenue of $602 million for the quarter, so they failed to meet expectations by a margin.
Advertising revenue declined 27 percent by $110.3 million versus Q2 2009.
On a slightly more positive note, the company has managed to reduce costs in Q2 2010 as operating expenses declined $131.6 million year-over-year and $73.2 million sequentially.
But AOL swung to a Q2 loss of $1.06 billion, or $9.89 a share, from net income of $153.7 million, or 86 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Its loss included a significant goodwill impairment charge of $1.4 billion related to its sale of Bebo and decline in its stock price. Without the goodwill charge, which is purely an accounting event, the company would have reported $0.66 earnings per share.
The company sold social network Bebo in June for approx. $10 million, to hedge fund Criterion Capital Partners. AOL had paid $850 million for the company back in 2008.
In April, AOL also sold instant messaging service ICQ to Russian investor DST for $187.5 million. According to the press release, the company also just sold its stake in Kayak.
AOL had $391.6 million of cash, or approximately $3.67 per share of cash, as of June 30, 2010.
AOL is a global advertising-supported Web company, with display advertising network in the U.S., a substantial worldwide audience, and a suite of popular Web brands and products. The company’s strategy focuses on increasing the scale and sophistication of its advertising platform and growing the size and engagement of its global online audience through leading products and programming. History of Aol: AOL was founded in the early 1980’s as Control Video Corp, with an online service, Gameline, for the Atari 2600 console. ...
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