Media group AOL Time Warner has continued its management shake-up, naming Philip Rowley as president and chief operating officer of AOL Europe.

AOL, the world's largest internet service provider (ISP), said the newly-created role was aimed at boosting revenues in the loss-making European division.

It follows a widespread management overhaul in the internet business after a year of dwindling advertising revenues.

The move comes on the eve of a crucial board meeting where reports suggest there will be renewed calls for AOL chairman Steve Case to go.

Out with the old

Mr Rowley was previously the chief financial officer of AOL Europe and will now have day-to-day control of AOL's UK, French and German divisions.

He said the near-term objective was to " boost the value of our business" by increasing "member revenues and satisfaction".

The newly-created role comes a week after AOL chairman Jon Miller reshuffled management to take greater control of the company's flagship internet business and move it towards profitability.

In April, the company announced losses of $54bn and it admitted earlier this month that the advertising slump was still hitting revenues.

Its struggles have wiped 70% off the value of its shares since the much-heralded merger of AOL and Time Warner in January 2001.

Profit hopes

One of Mr Rowley's tasks will be cutting costs while lifting subscriber numbers.

In the UK, AOL is expected to report its first profit in the coming year.

The French and German businesses meanwhile have fallen behind other European leaders such as T-Online, a division of Deutsche Telekom, and France Telecom's Wanadoo.

The company is aiming to halve losses to $300m this year and grow revenues from $800m to $1bn and told the market last month that it was still on track to meet its full year targets.