ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070041
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
America Online Inc. said Tuesday that it earned $10.6 million in the last three months of 1995 and now has 5 million subscribers.
The profit amounted to 10 cents per share for the period, which is America Online's second fiscal quarter. A year ago, it lost $38.7 million, or 60 cents per share, after charges for its acquisitions of BookLink Technologies and Navisoft Inc.
Revenue was $249.1 million, up from $76.4 million a year ago.
America Online added 877,000 subscribers during the quarter, twice as many as it signed up in the same period in 1994. It added 710,000 subscribers in the three months that ended Sept. 30, 1995.
The company finished 1995 with 4.59 million subscribers but since has added enough to pass 5 million.
In a prepared statement that accompanied the earnings report, America Online Chief Executive Officer Steve Case suggested that the company's performance ought to quiet critics who say on-line services are doomed by the growth of the Internet.
``The fact that we've grown tenfold in two years speaks volumes about what consumers really want when they go on line,'' Case said.
In addition to subscriber fees, America Online recorded $24.6 million in advertising and merchandise revenue in the latest quarter, up from $9.4 million a year ago.
For the first six months of its fiscal year, America Online earned $328,000, break-even on a per-share basis.
Six-month revenue was $446.96 million, up from $133.33 million a year ago.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB