AOL subsidiary down over 20%

REVENUES AT the Irish subsidiary of TimeWarner’s AOL internet unit dropped by more than 20 per cent last year to $35.15 million.

AOL Global Operations recorded a pre-tax loss of $132,750 in 2008, compared to a profit of $2.24 million on a turnover of more than $44 million the previous year.

The loss was attributed to restructuring in the business at the end of 2007 and was not said to be a reflection of how AOL was performing overall.

The company’s Irish operation, based in Citywest in Dublin, develops, tests and localises applications for a number of AOL’s websites and services.

Aengus McClean, the vice-president who heads up the Dublin operations, said the company incurred one-off restructuring costs of about $3.35 million. These were associated with the sale of its broadband access business to Carphone Warehouse in the UK.

Mr McClean said the transfer of technologies, buildings, staff and a small number of redundancies were the main factors in these restructuring costs.

The accounts show that AOL’s Irish staff numbers fell from 185 to 156 in 2008, with wage, social welfare and pensions contributions costs falling from some $18.2 million to $16.5 million.