America Online Posts Big Loss

America Online Inc., the nation’s largest on-line computer service, said Thursday it lost a hefty $353.7 million in its latest quarter after taking a huge one-time charge for marketing costs.

The loss, for the company’s fiscal first quarter, amounted to $3.80 per share. Without the charge, which America Online previously announced, the company would have earned $19 million, or 17 cents per share, in line with estimates by analysts surveyed by I/B/E/S International.

In the same quarter last year, the company lost $10.9 million, or 14 cents per share.

Revenues jumped 77 percent to $349.9 million from $197.9 million as the company sharply increased its number of subscribers to 6.9 million and drew more advertisers to its service.

The subscriber additions came at a high price for America Online, which introduced an expensive marketing blitz and a new flat-rate price in a bid to stem the defection of customers to cheaper competitors.