At the start of a conference call to discuss the results, CEO Richard Parsons also announced that Vice Chairman Ted Turner, founder of the Cable News Network and Turner Broadcasting, was leaving the company to spend more time on charitable efforts.

Analysts had expected the company to take a writedown of $10 billion to $20 billion for the quarter.

"The $45 billion goodwill writedown was much larger than anyone expected," said David Joyce, an analyst with Guzman & Co. in Miami.

AOL (AOL) shares added 30 cents, or 2 percent, to $13.96 on Wednesday in regular trading but fell 88 cents in after-hours trade following the announcement.

The charge left AOL with a fourth-quarter loss of $44.9 billion, or $10.04 per share, compared to its loss a year-ago $1.8 billion, or 41 cents. Coupled with the $54 billion charge in the first quarter of 2002, the company ended the year with a loss of more than $100 billion.

AOL's operating earnings came in at 28 cents a share, beating the 27-cent estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call.

Parsons also moved to dispel speculation that AOL was shopping around America Online. During a conference call with securities analysts, Parsons pointedly called America Online a "key" asset.

Before the announcement, the investment community said it wanted to hear Parsons detail his plans for America Online, the proposed initial public offering of the company's cable division, and about the aftermath of resignation of Chairman Steve Case, whom Parsons has succeeded.

The America Online unit has dragged the company down and disappointed investors by failing to reach Wall Street's revenue projections. Further, analysts fret that the upcoming digital revolution may someday eclipse America Online's trademark dial-up feature. Their worst fear is that it will look obsolete as customers seek faster and faster services.