DirecTV on Tuesday said strong subscriber growth and price
increases in its U.S. division during the first quarter helped to
offset weakness in Latin America, as the satellite-television
provider said it expects its deal to be bought by AT&T Inc. to
close in the current quarter.
The $49 billion deal between AT&T and DirecTV is expected to
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's U.S. division added a net
60,000 new customers, compared with 12,000 additions a year
earlier. Its churn rate was 1.37%, down from 1.45% a year earlier
and its lowest first-quarter rate in six years.
U.S. revenue grew 6.1% to $6.46 billion. Average monthly revenue
per subscriber, meanwhile, rose to $105.62 from $100.16 a year
earlier due in part to price increases on programming packages and
regional sports networks.
Overall, the company posted quarterly earnings of $730 million,
or $1.44 a share, up from $561 million, or $1.09 a share, a year
earlier.
Revenue grew 3.7% to $8.14 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of
$1.53 a share and revenue of $8.15 billion.
In its Latin America division, subscriber growth slowed to
219,000 net additions in the latest quarter from 361,000 a year
earlier.
Churn rate grew to 2.15% from 1.85%, while revenue fell 5% to
$1.64 billion.
DirecTV said its results in Latin America were weighed by
foreign exchange headwinds.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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