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The company added a net 40,000 subscribers in
the quarter ended March 31. Wall Street analysts had expected
the company to add a net 21,900 subscribers in the quarter ended
March 31, according to market research firm StreetAccount.
Subscriber additions improved as churn rate fell to 1.42 percent
in the quarter from 1.47 percent a year earlier. The company
ended the quarter with 14.1 million pay-TV subscribers.
The company, however, reported a lower-than-expected quarterly
profit as it spend more on programming and transmission.
Net income attributable to the company fell to $175.9 million,
or 38 cents per share, from $215.6 million, or 47 cents per
share, a year earlier. (http://r.reuters.com/hyn29v)
Analysts had expected a profit of 44 cents per share, according
to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Total costs and expenses rose about 8 percent.
The company expects subscriber-related expenses to increase
especially for acquiring content from local broadcast channels
and on sports programming. It added that margins may face
pressure if it is unable to renew long-term programming
contracts on favorable pricing terms.
Revenue rose to $3.59 billion from $3.38 billion a year earlier.
Average revenue per user rose 5 percent to $82.36.
Analysts had expected revenue of $3.58 billion.
Shares of the company closed at $62.66 on Wednesday on the
Nasdaq. The stock has gained 8 percent this year.
(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee; Editing by Don Sebastian)
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