|
||
|
DirecTV 4Q Profit More than Doubles as Subscriber Grows 38% |
||
|
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Feb. 8, 2007/Satnews Daily/ — DirecTV Group Inc. said on Wednesday fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled as the satellite television operator's subscriber base grew and it changed its accounting for set-top boxes.
The company said net income surged to $356 million or 29 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 from $121 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Fourth quarter revenues increased 16 percent to $4.18 billion and operating profit before depreciation and amortization1 more than doubled to $915 million compared to last year’s fourth quarter.
“These results were driven by improved operating metrics including subscriber growth, churn, ARPU and subscriber acquisition costs, a reflection of the competitive strength of our business. Gross subscriber additions of over 1 million in the quarter were 6 percent higher than last year but more importantly, we attained an even greater growth rate for higher-quality subscribers compared to last year,” said Chase Carey, president and CEO.
He said the emphasis on adding higher-quality subscribers who purchase significantly more advanced products and services helped drive the company’s monthly churn rate from 1.70 percent last year to 1.57 percent in the current quarter, the biggest improvement in over 3 years. This resulted in a 38 percent increase in net subscriber additions to 275,000 in the quarter.
DirecTV said the Group’s revenues of $14.76 billion in 2006 increased 12 percent compared to 2005 driven principally by subscriber growth at DirecTV U.S. and DirecTV Latin America. 2006, operating profit before depreciation and amortization more than doubled to $3.39 billion and operating profit more than tripled to $2.36 billion. Net income in 2006 increased to $1.42 billion.
DirecTV said it had 15.95 million subscribers at the end of Dec. 2006, an increase of 5 percent over the 15.13 million subscribers reported on December 31, 2005.
Recent Stories: Comtech Receives $1-M Order for Satellite Equipment from DirecTV |
||
