Time Warner enjoyed the most profitable quarter in its history thanks to an ad recovery and strong movie performance. Net income rose to $725 million, up from $660 million in the prior period. Revenue was up 5 per cent, to $6.3 billion, for the quarter, the company’s biggest gain in almost two years.

Time Warner’s cable TV unit also showed a remarkable rise in ad revenue, up 9 per cent or $67 million on the year ago period thanks to stronger scatter pricing and growth at international operations at international operations. The increase is a major sequential improvement compared to fourth quarter when the unit saw a 4 per cent dip in ad revenue.

Subscription revenue rose 7 per cent, or $131 million, partly due to growth at international channels and favourable foreign exchange rates. Content revenue from programme and product sales grew 22 per cent, or $46 million. Revenue at the networks unit rose 9 per cent, or $252 million, to $3 billion.

Elsewhere, the publishing segment revenue fell 1 per cent, to $799 million, while revenue at the film unit grew 2 per cent, to $2.7 billion.

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