AOL earnings rise; subscribers dwindle

America Online’s subscriber base plunged in the second quarter, as nearly one million customers fled the service for cheaper or faster Internet connections.

Despite efforts to stem the loss of subscribers, AOL shed 846,000 dial-up customers in the three months that ended June 30, according to figures released Wednesday morning by its parent company, AOL Time Warner Inc., with headquarters in New York’s Rockefeller Center, above. That leaves the service down 1.2 million subscribers compared to the same period last year.

While AOL Time Warner reported strong quarterly financial results for the company as a whole, the Dulles, Va.-based AOL division remains its single biggest problem. AOL Time Warner reported profits of $1.1 billion for the second quarter on revenue of $10.8 billion. Revenue grew by six percent, and the company successfully continued to reduce its hefty debt load by both selling various noncore business units and using its robust cash flow.

Manufacturing

More job cuts slated at Kodak

Eastman Kodak Co. said Wednesday it would cut 4,500 to 6,000 jobs, or up to 9 percent of its work force, as it struggles with a nearly three-year slump in film sales.

The world’s largest photography company has blamed its troubles on a sluggish economy and the rapid growth of filmless digital picture-taking.

The company eliminated 7,000 jobs last year, shrinking its work force to 70,000 people, and said in January it would cut another 1,800 to 2,200 jobs.

The cuts announced Wednesday are to begin later this year, and will be made in administration, manufacturing and research divisions, the company said.

Kodak posted sharply lower second-quarter earnings Wednesday of $112 million, or 39 cents a share, down from $284 million, or 97 a share, a year ago.

Kansas City, Mo.

DST profits drop

DST Systems Inc., a data processing and software services company, on Wednesday said its second-quarter profit declined by 1.3 percent from the same quarter last year.

The Kansas City, Mo.-based company, which is partially owned by fund firm Janus Capital Group Inc., reported net income of $53 million, or 44 cents per diluted share, for the second quarter. That compared with earnings of $53.7 million, or 44 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. The company operates a service center in Lawrence.

Topeka

Cap Fed ups dividend

Topeka-based Capitol Federal Financial announced Wednesday that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 24 cents per share on outstanding CFFN common stock, an increase of 4.35 percent compared to the previously paid quarterly dividend. The dividend is payable on August 15, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 1. The company operates bank branches in Lawrence.