AOL Time Warner has announced that it has made a profit in the first quarter on strength in its movie and cable TV businesses, but protracted weakness at its music and America Online units dragged on revenue and cash flow.
The New York-based company also backed the business outlook for the year that it had provided in January.
The world's largest media company, burdened by an enormous debt load and lingering questions about its accounting, posted a net profit of $396 million, or 9 cents a share.
That reverses the prior year's loss of $54.24 billion, or $12.25 a share - the largest quarterly loss ever reported - after it recorded a massive asset write down linked largely to AOL.
The first quarter's results were helped by its cable networks, home to HBO and CNN, recent film hits as "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and strong DVD sales.
Investors have been focused on progress in the company's plans to pare its debt through asset sales and have been closely watching what success a new team at America Online is having in turning around the embattled division, which is still contending with federal probes into its accounting practices.