Earnings: Time Warner Inc. eked out its...

Earnings: Time Warner Inc. eked out its first earnings per share since the 1989 merger that created it, reflecting growth in three of its five businesses.

The New York-based entertainment and publishing giant reported fourth-quarter net income of $7 million, or 1 cent a share, contrasted with a loss of $93 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 9.6% to $4.12 billion, from $3.78 billion.

Although the company has posted net income for five quarters since the merger took effect in the first period of 1990, those earnings were wiped out in the per-share figures after the payment of preferred dividends. The latest quarter was “the best single quarter in the history of Time Warner Inc.,” Chairman Gerald Levin said.

Publishing, Warner Music Group and theme parks were up; cable and filmed entertainment were down. Time Warner’s earnings beat the mean estimate of 18 analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research for a loss of 1 cent a share. The company’s stock gained 12.5 cents a share, closing at $39.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Time Warner “has made impressive progress in improving their cash flow, restructuring their balance sheet and reducing their debt,” analyst Alvin Mirman of Gruntal & Co. said. “The company is poised for significant growth over the next couple of years.”