Time Warner Bounces Back in 3rd Quarter

NEW YORK — Time Warner Inc. reported third-quarter net income of $360 million, bouncing back from a loss a year ago as big gains from cable TV offset weaker results in its music and television studios.

The media and entertainment giant said Wednesday its earnings were equivalent to 27 cents per share, in contrast to a loss of $37 million, or 3 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Revenue rose 2% to $6.72 billion from $6.59 billion.

Time Warner’s third-quarter profits were lifted by one-time gains from the sale and exchange of cable systems. But even without those gains, the company’s pretax cash flow--a measurement widely used by financial analysts--rose by 9%.

Time Warner’s stock started higher but fell $1.25 to close at $62.06 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The stock has been sliding from about $77 since mid-July, when the co-chairmen of the Warner Bros. music and movie studio resigned abruptly. The stock took another hit this summer after a prominent analyst cautioned that Time Warner’s music earnings would be lower.

Apart from its cable systems, Time Warner also posted stronger results in its magazine publishing division, Time Inc., and its cable networks division, which includes CNN, HBO and Cinemax.

The main signs of weakness during the quarter were in the music division, where results were off at Time Warner’s half-owned Columbia House direct-sales business, and in movie and TV production, where earnings a year ago were pumped up by syndicated sales of “Seinfeld.”

Time Warner did score one huge hit at the box office this summer with the “Austin Powers” sequel.