Dish Network's 4Q net income rises 41 pct

[February 24, 2011]  ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- Dish Network, the nation's second largest provider of satellite TV service, said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income rose 41 percent, beating Wall Street analysts' expectations. For the third straight quarter, Dish reported higher revenue even as it has lost subscribers.

The Englewood, Colo., company lost a net 156,000 subscribers, bringing the total customer base to about 14.1 million -- about how many subscribers Dish had at the end of 2009.

More customers have canceled service due to intense competition from other providers, weak economic conditions and disputes with broadcasters that have temporarily left viewers without access to certain channels. Still, it has succeeded in making more money from its remaining subscribers.

Dish said its net income rose to $252 million, or 56 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, up from $179 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose about 8 percent to $3.21 billion from $2.96 billion.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 53 cents per share on $3.21 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Dish's stock jumped 57 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $23.50 during pre-market trading Thursday.

For fiscal 2010, the company reported net income of $984.7 million, or $2.20 per share, up from $635.5 million, or $1.42 per share, in 2009. Annual revenue rose to $12.64 billion from $11.66 billion.

The results come a day after DirecTV Group Inc., the nation's largest satellite TV operator, said it added 667,000 subscribers during the quarter, including a better-than-expected 289,000 in the U.S. DirecTV ended the quarter with over 28 million subscribers, including 19.2 million in the U.S.

DirecTV reported net income of $618 million, or 74 cents per share, versus a loss of $32 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Its revenue grew 11 percent to $6.62 billion.

[Associated Press]

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