Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) will be announcing earnings for its fourth quarter tomorrow before the market opens. Analysts expect to see the company show earnings of $0.27 per share, which would be slightly lower than the $0.29 a share that the company posted for the same period last year.Last month the company issued a profit warning, and predicted an operating loss for Q4 and full year 2008. The company stated that it expects to have roughly a $25 billion write down on its cable, publishing and AOL assets. Of this $25 billion, $15 billion is related to its spin off of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and the remaining $10 billion will be associated with its publishing and AOL division.
Along with so many other companies recently, Time Warner was forced to lay off part of its workforce during the quarter as a result of the continuing recession. Its Warner Bros. Entertainment movie studio laid off around 10% of its workforce, nearly 800 jobs, and its AOL internet unit also cut its workforce by approximately 10% when it cut 700 jobs.
The slowing economy has definitely put a crimp on the company's AOL advertising business, and we should get a clue tomorrow of just how bad the company sees the advertising slowdown impacting its units such as AOL and Time Inc. magazines.
Earlier today, it was announced that AOL was replacing its President of Platform-A, its display advertising network. The newly-appointed President is Greg Coleman, who in the past was the Executive Vice President of Global Sales at Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO).
After the market opens, the company will hold its quarterly conference call scheduled for 10:30 AM EST. We should get a little more insight into what the company sees in the months ahead.
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