AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) released the earnings results from its December quarter this morning, posting earnings per share of 43 cents on revenue of $679 million. The company said it delivered its strongest revenue growth in 10 years during 2013. For the full year, earnings were $1.13 per share on revenue of $2.32 billion.
“2013 was AOL’s most successful year in the last decade, and we accomplished our goal of industry level growth at scale for AOL,” said Tim Armstrong, AOL Chairman and CEO, in a statement. “AOL’s exceptionally talented team continues to execute against our strategy and our results show meaningful progress in the most important areas of media and technology. AOL plans to invest in our market leading strategies in 2014, while we continue to grow the company.”
Analysts had been expecting the company to report earnings of 46 cents on revenue of $656 million for the quarter. For the full year, they were looking for earnings of $2.04 on revenue of $2.3 billion.
Breaking down AOL’s results
AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) reported 13% revenue growth and 19% adjusted OIBDA growth during the December quarter, as well as 23% ad revenue growth, which was driven by growth in pricing. The company also reported that the December quarter was the sixth consecutive one in which it recorded unique visitor growth.
AOL Networks saw its revenue grow by 50%, driven by 4% growth in Video, Mobile and Programmatic Brand Group and also tripled adjusted OIBDA. The company also reported a record low churn of 1.3% in Mitigates Membership Group Revenue decline. In addition, it said AOL margins expanded by more than 100 basis points.
AOL lists items
AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) did report a number of items which had a negative impact on its earnings results. During the December quarter, the company reported $13.2 million in restructuring costs and $15.6 million in equity-based compensation expense. The company said it reduced its workforce during the quarter, mostly in preparation to spin off its local news initiative Patch.
