By Chelsey Dulaney
Cablevision Systems Corp. lost about 6,000 subscribers during
the first three months of the year, though the pay-television
company still managed to log better-than-expected profit and
revenue for the quarter.
The results come as the cable industry is still reeling in the
wake of the collapse of Comcast Corp.'s deal to buy Time Warner
Cable Inc. Cablevision has been seen by some analysts as a
potential acquisition target, now that the deal has fallen
apart.
On Monday's conference call, Chief Executive James Dolan said
the company was waiting to see "how things shake out."
"The lay of the land at this point seems to be that everybody is
just trying to figure out what they are going to do," he said. "We
are watching; we are studying it."
Meanwhile, Cablevision is looking to reshape itself from a
traditional cable operator to a company focused on
"connectivity."
Cablevision has been aggressively targeting viewers who are
looking to "cut the cord" or who enjoy online video services. The
company has unveiled a variety of efforts targeted at these
customers in recent months: from becoming the first pay-TV provider
to say it will offer HBO's stand-alone streaming to offering Hulu's
catalog of on-demand shows and movies to its customers.
The company also recently became the first major U.S. cable
operator to launch a mobile phone service that uses its network of
Wi-Fi hot spots.
Despite these efforts, Cablevision's subscriber numbers were
tepid in the first quarter of the year.
Cablevision said its total customers--businesses or households
that subscribe to at least one service--edged down to 3.11 million
as of March 31 from 3.12 million at the end of 2014. The company
lost 28,000 video subscribers and 14,000 voice subscribers. It
added 7,000 high-speed Internet customers, bringing its total to
2.78 million as of March 31.
Cablevision faces intense competition from rivals like Verizon
FiOS, which often offer more discounts.
Cablevision has committed to maintaining its pricing, which
helped drive average monthly cable revenue per customer 4.8% higher
from a year ago to $155.34 despite fewer customers.
The increase helped to lift overall revenue, which increased
2.5% to $1.62 billion.
In all, for the quarter ended March 31, Cablevision posted a
profit of $44.6 million, or 17 cents a share, down from $89.8
million, or 34 cents a share, a year earlier.
Earnings from continuing operations were 20 cents a share.
Results were helped by the timing of certain expenses.
Analysts had projected 17 cents a share in profit and $1.6
billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.
Shares of Cablevision, up 21% over the past 12 months, slipped 3
cents to $20.36.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Cablevision Systems Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US12686C1099
Access Investor Kit for Comcast Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US20030N1019
Access Investor Kit for Comcast Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US20030N2009
Access Investor Kit for Time Warner Cable, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US88732J2078
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires