CNN Money
The New York-based company reported net income of $1.4 million, or 1 cent per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with a loss of $1.9 billion, or $18.52 a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Sales fell 17% to $809.7 million, led by sharp declines in AOL's subscriber base. Subscription revenue plunged 28%, while advertising sales were down 8%.
The company continued to lose subscribers as users flock to higher speed Internet connections. AOL's subscription base fell 27% to about 5 million from 6.9 million a year earlier.
But the overall sales figure was better than expected. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast sales of $700 million.
"We have made significant progress in support of the long-term vision we see in the future of AOL," said AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong in a statement. "But today's results continue to reflect the need for our focus and execution on the work required in the turnaround of the company."
Flying solo
The results reflect AOL's performance since it regained its independence from media giant Time Warner in December. It is also AOL's first report as a standalone firm since October 2000, when the company posted a quarterly profit of $350 million.
Time Warner, which owns CNNMoney.com, spun AOL off to shareholders late last year, ending what many experts said was the most disastrous corporate marriage of all time.
AOL has been trying to reinvent itself as a content and advertising company as subscribers to its dial-up Internet access business have dwindled. But the company has lagged rivals Google and Yahoo, in key areas such as display advertising.
AOL's global display advertising revenue declined 3% to $176.4 million in the quarter. Revenue from international display advertising plunged 22%. On the bright side, revenue from U.S. display advertising rose 1%, marking the first quarter of year-over-year growth in two years.
Search revenue, generated when a user clicks on a text-based ad on their screen, fell 19% to $154.4 million.
