New York  - US media giant Time Warner Inc. on Wednesday reported a drop in third quarter earnings, and lowered its 2008 profit expectations, citing the costs of restructuring.

The world's largest media company said net income came to 1.07 billion dollars in the third quarter, off slightly from 1.09 billion dollars in the same 2007 period.

Sales in the quarter were level at 11.7 billion dollars, a figure which fell slightly short of analysts' projections of 11.9 billion dollars, the financial agency Bloomberg reported.

Time Warner said its full-year adjusted operating profit would rise by 5 per cent, from the 2007 base of 12.9 billion dollars, with the company expecting 310 million dollars in restructuring charges expected at the magazine unit Time Inc.

Besides restructuring costs, Time Warner faced a "challenging economic environment" this year.