AOL Time Warner has admitted for the first time that some of the revenues at its America Online division could have been wrongly attributed.
The company said in a statement that three payments totalling $49 million may have been “improperly recognised” as advertising revenue. The transactions took place between the last quarter of 2000 and the first quarter this year but further details have not been forthcoming.
The deals in question amount to less than 1% of the online unit’s total revenue but major corporations are under increased scrutiny following the financial scandals at Enron and WorldCom. AOL has already launched an internal review into its online advertising and e-commerce dealings.
Today’s announcement follows the resignation of David Colburn, the head of business affairs, although it is not known if the two events are connected.
The US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are conducting simultaneous probes into accounting practices at AOL following press allegations of impropriety (see Justice Department To Launch AOL Probe).
