Time Warner Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday thanks to a strong rebound in advertising sales at its cable networks and magazines as well as strong DVD sales of The Blind Side and Sherlock Holmes.

First-quarter net income rose to $725 million, or 62 cents a share, up from $467 million, or 39 cents a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, earnings of 61 cents a share beat analysts average forecasts of 48 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue was up 5 percent to $6.3 billion.

Time Warner was primarily boosted by return of the advertising market and rising fees that cable operators pay to carry the company's cable channels such as CNN and TNT.

The better-than-expected performance encouraged the company to raise its 2010 outlook slightly. It expects full-year profit excluding items to grow by at least mid-teens percentage points. Previously, it had forecast profit to grow by around mid-teens percentage points.

Shares in Time Warner, which also owns magazine publisher Time Inc and Hollywood studio Warner Bros., have risen by more than 12 percent since the start of the year along with other major media stocks as investors have priced in an ad recovery after a severe downturn in 2009.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Derek Caney)

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