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AOL's sales increase and loss narrows
09.08.2011
AOL's sales increase and loss narrows
An increase in advertising has helped AOL narrow its second-quarter loss and overcome a decline in subscriptions to web access.
The internet services and media company's net loss decreased to US$11.8m, or 11 cents a share, from US$1.06bn, or US$10.02, a year earlier, and sales also fell, by 8.4pc to US$542.2m.
Global advertising sales increased, however, for the first time since the second quarter of 2008, AOL said.
In March, the company acquired news website The Huffington Post for US$315m, to add viewers and advertisers. AOL also expanded the local-news service Patch to more than 800 community-based sites, helping create a US-wide local network to help distribute advertising and build other business ventures, Bloomberg reported.
AOL has been losing web-access customers for more than eight years. Its subscription sales declined 23pc in the quarter.
Photo by Frank Gruber