Local Company Doing Well

Not every company is doing badly in this economic downturn.

DirecTV 3Q profit up on strong demand for services

NEW YORK (AP) - DirecTV Group Inc. said Thursday its third-quarter earnings rose 14 percent as capital expenses fell sharply and customers spent more on premium services.

The El Segundo-based satellite television operator said net income rose to $363 million, or 33 cents per share, from $319 million, or 27 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
The result came in 2 cents short of the average estimate from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 15 percent to $4.98 billion from $4.33 billion, boosted by a 49 percent increase in Latin America to $658 million.

U.S. customers paid more for services such as digital video recorders and high-definition channels, helping domestic revenue rise 11 percent.

"In an increasingly challenging economic and competitive environment, we're continuing to see strong consumer demand for DirecTV's unique and differentiated content," Chief Executive Chase Carey said in a statement.

DirecTV's spending on equipment that it leases to customers fell 33 percent to $279 million from $417 million a year ago.

The company added 156,000 net new subscribers, a decrease from last year as more customers defected to other services. Gross additions declined because a distribution agreement with phone company AT&T Inc. ended in April.

Shares fell $1.25, or 6 percent, to $19.55 in morning trading. In the past year, the stock has ranged from $17.70 to $29.10.