Debt-Laden Time Warner Trims Losses

Time Warner Inc. on Wednesday said its third-quarter loss narrowed, benefiting from the addition of Turner Broadcasting, more advertising for its magazines and improved box-office returns.

Lower profit and sales at Warner Music Group partly offset the gains. The media conglomerate lost $35 million, or 20 cents a share, in the July-September quarter. In the same period last year, Time Warner lost $91 million, or 43 cents a share.

Revenue rose 25% to $6.09 billion from $4.88 billion.

But excluding interest costs and other items not related to day-to-day operations, Time Warner’s profit rose 32% to $1.27 billion from $964 million. That profit measure, known as EBITDA, is often considered a more accurate sign of performance for debt-laden companies such as Time Warner.

The figures include the company’s majority-owned Time Warner Entertainment Co., a partnership with US West Media Group that holds most of Time Warner’s cable systems, the Warner Bros. movie business and HBO.

“These strong results were achieved despite declines in music, thus demonstrating the benefits of the breadth of our company,” said Gerald Levin, Time Warner’s chairman and chief executive.

Publishing group Time Inc. reported increased profit from strong advertising revenue at People, Fortune, In Style and Entertainment Weekly magazines.

The film business boosted profit on healthy U.S. performances of “Contact” and “Conspiracy Theory” and the international release of “Batman & Robin.”

The company also showed strong profit from cable systems and cable networks, which include TBS, TNT and CNN. The WB network reduced its quarterly loss.

For the first nine months, Time Warner earned $30 million, which translated to a loss of 37 cents a share, on revenue of $17.65 billion. A year earlier, it lost $250 million, or $1.11 a share, on revenue of $14.18 billion. Nine-month EBITDA was $3.73 billion, up from $2.89 billion.

Time Warner shares rose $2.38 to close at $57.25 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.