Newly merged media conglomerate AOL Time Warner's earnings beat Wall Street expectations for the first quarter, and the announcement helped its stock price gain US$5 per share in Wednesday morning trading.

The company on Wednesday announced cash earnings per share of $0.23 for the quarter ending March 31. According to Thomson Financial/First Call, analysts on Wall Street had estimated the company's EPS to be $0.20 on average. "We couldn't be more pleased with AOL Time Warner's performance in our first quarter as a new company," AOL Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin said in a prepared statement. "Our businesses are working as one unified organization to deliver shareholder value over the near- and long-term." Added Levin: "This outstanding quarter underscores the unique promise of AOL Time Warner, and the ability of our management team to collaborate in a focused, disciplined way." On total revenues of $9.1 billion, AOL Time Warner posted overall first-quarter 2001 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $2.1 billion. This reflects a 20 percent gain over the $1.8 billion the two companies earned the previous year. Last year's numbers were reported on an adjusted pro forma basis, as if the two companies had merged on January 1st, 2000 rather than January 10th, 2001. These earnings do not take into account merger-related costs, officials said.