Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc. has no immediate plans to sell or separate from its AOL Internet unit, a spokesman for AOL said, disputing an article in today's Sunday Telegraph.

The London newspaper said Time Warner is considering selling AOL, which has struggled with declining subscribers, citing an interview with AOL Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Miller. The two companies joined in 2000 to form the world's biggest media company.

Time Warner ``is not considering a sale or demerger,'' AOL spokesman John Buckley said in a telephone interview today. The newspaper report was an ``absolute distortion'' of Miller's comments, he said. Buckley said he was present in London when Miller spoke with the Sunday Telegraph.

``He said `It's possible going forward,''' Buckley said. ``What that says to me is sure, someday it's possible.''

Officials with the Sunday Telegraph didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

Dulles, Virginia-based AOL is cutting 5,000 jobs by the end of the year, and has sold some European units. Last month, it started giving away its e-mail and software to broadband users to boost online advertising sales and compensate for the decline in subscription revenue.

The Sunday Telegraph interview was conducted Oct. 18, the same day New York-based Time Warner's cable unit filed for an initial public offering.

In the article, Miller is quoted as saying that a sale of AOL is ``not a discussion that Time Warner has a problem with understanding or engaging in.''

``Until we were on this present course, it wasn't even the right discussion,'' Miller told the Telegraph. ``Now it becomes more interesting.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 22, 2006 16:59 EDT