Time Warner has cable among some other things to thank for profit boost

Time Warner happily reports that profits jumped 34 percent due to AOL asset sales in Europe, a rise in digital cable and phone customers, and online advertising sales. And here we were thinking it was because of Time Inc's drop in body count. Anyway, analysts aren't jumping the gun on 2007. The company, which until now has not provided annual earnings-per-share forecasts, gave what some analysts called a conservative outlook for 2007. Time Warner said 2007 profit could reach about $1 per share, including an expected 10-cent gain from the sale of some AOL properties. The 2007 outlook was "a little muted," said analyst Christopher Marangi of Gabelli & Co., which is a Time Warner investor. Time Warner profit rises on cable; outlook muted [Reuters]