Time Warner Warns Of Net Loss For 08, 25 Billion Charge

Back in November, Time Warner said it expected to income to grow 5 percent over 2007’s $12.9 billion. The company is also expecting an impairment charge of $25 billion. About $15 billion of those write-downs are related to Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), which the company is planning on spinning off, although it still holds an 85 percent interest, the WSJ noted.

Time Warner made the announcement in advance of CFO’s John Martin presentation at the 2009 Citigroup Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference today. Following the news, Time Warner shares were down 6.1 percent in pre-market trading.

Time Warner said the change in expectation was due to several factors and not just the worsening economic environment. For example, in December, it was hit with a $280 million expense related to a judgment against Turner Broadcasting System in a court case involving to the 2004 sale of its winter sports teams.

Time Warner also pointed out that advertising at AOL and its publishing business suffered more than anticipated in Q4, reducing the expected income growth rate by about 1 percent. See the release (PDF).

By Paid Content under Creative Commons.