Dish revenue rises as it adds more subscribers

Thu May 8, 2014 8:45am EDT

The sign in the lobby of the corporate headquarters of Dish Network is seen in the Denver suburb of Englewood, Colorado April 6, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking

(Reuters) - Dish Network Corp, the second-largest U.S. satellite TV company, reported a better-than-expected 6 percent growth in quarterly revenue due to higher net subscriber additions.

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 the rate of cancellations fell to 1.42 percent from 1.47 percent a year earlier. The company ended the quarter with 14.1 million pay-TV subscribers.

Larger rival DirecTV reported a quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates last week, helped by subscriber growth in Latin America and higher average revenue per user in the United States.

DirecTV is evaluating a possible combination with AT&T Inc, but it also thinks that AT&T could be more interested in buying Dish, Reuters said on Wednesday.

Net income attributable to Dish fell to $175.9 million, or 38 cents per share, from $215.6 million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier as the company spent more on content and transmission. (r.reuters.com/hyn29v)

Analysts had expected a profit of 44 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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Dish revenue rises as it adds more subscribers