DirecTV Revenue Rises on Growth in U.S.

By Michael Calia 

DirecTV said its revenue rose in the latest quarter on the strength of its U.S. operations, as the satellite-television provider awaits regulatory clearance of its deal to be bought by AT&T Inc.

Shares of the company rose 3.1% in premarket trading as its results topped analysts' expectations.

The $49 billion deal between AT&T and DirecTV, which is expected to close during the first half of the year, would be yet another major transformation for the communications industry. With increasing competition from competitors such as T-Mobile U.S. Inc., AT&T looks to challenge rival telecom Verizon Communications Inc. in the TV space.

In the most recent period, DirecTV said it had 149,000 net subscriber additions, compared with 93,000 a year earlier. The company's total subscriber base as of Dec. 31 was about 20.4 million, an increase of 0.5% from a year earlier.

U.S. revenue rose 5.4% to $7.14 billion. Average monthly revenue per subscriber, meanwhile, rose to $117.30 from $111.74 year over year.

Overall, the company posted quarterly earnings of $778 million, down from $810 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings remained flat at $1.53 a share.

Revenue rose 3.8% to $8.92 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of $1.40 a share and revenue of $8.91 billion.

In its Latin American operations, DirecTV's revenue fell to $1.73 billion from $1.77 billion as the unit added fewer customers in the quarter than it did in the year-earlier period.

Write to Michael Calia at [e-mail]

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