Luckily for all of us, it is not real money. George Gilbert of Northern Technology Fund calls it "AOL funny money".
Sabri ================= Top Financial News 04/24 16:56 AOL Time Warner Posts Record $54.2 Bln 1st-Qtr Loss (Update2) By Aimee Picchi New York, April 24 (Bloomberg) -- AOL Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company, posted a first-quarter loss of $54.2 billion, the biggest in U.S. history, on $54.2 billion in costs related to America Online Inc.'s purchase last year of Time Warner Inc. The loss widened to $12.25 a share from $1.37 billion, or 31 cents, a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sales rose 7.1 percent to $9.76 billion from $9.12 billion. AOL Time Warner wrote down the value of acquired assets after its stock fell 74 percent since the purchase was announced in January 2000. It twice lowered financial targets in the past year as America Online, once billed as the primary driver of the company's revenue and profit, seeks to reverse declining advertising sales and slowing subscriber growth. The loss "is a recognition that AOL paid too much for Time Warner," said George Gilbert, who helps manage the Northern Technology Fund, before the results were released. "If they paid for it in cash, it would be a real disaster, but they paid for it in AOL funny money." Gilbert's fund owns AOL Time Warner stock. The New York-based company lowered its forecast for growth in 2002 cash flow -- or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- to 5 percent to 9 percent, citing declines in America Online's advertising sales. Previously it had predicted cash flow growth of 8 percent to 12 percent. AOL Advertising "Online advertising is a disappointment," Chief Executive- Elect Richard Parsons said on a conference call. He said the company expects America Online's ad sales to decline to between $1.8 billion and $2.2 billion in 2002 from $2.7 billion last year. AOL Time Warner said first-quarter cash flow declined 6.4 percent to $1.94 billion from $2.08 billion. The company's profit before amortization and other costs was 18 cents a share. On that basis, it exceeded the average analyst forecast for a profit of 14 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Shares of AOL Time Warner rose as much as $1.10, or 5.7 percent, to $20.40 in trading after the close of regular U.S. markets. It had risen 19 cents to $19.30 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has fallen 40 percent so far this year.
