DirecTV Earns $1.09 Per Share

DirecTV ($DTV) reported second-quarter earnings this morning of $1.09 per share, four cents below Wall Street’s forecast:

DirecTV Group second-quarter earnings edged up as the satellite-TV provider added a record number of net subscribers in its Latin America business, which saw double-digit revenue growth.

Latin America has become DirecTV’s main source of growth as its U.S. markets attract fewer new customers. The company this year said it set a new plan that aims to double its Latin America subscribers to more than 16 million and annual revenue to more than $10 billion over the next five years. The company said business is driven by greater middle market demand in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela.

Net subscriber losses in DirecTV’s larger U.S. business totaled 52,000, from the 26,000 subscribers added a year earlier. Total subscriber base stood at 19.9 million at the end of the quarter, up slightly from 19.4 million a year ago.

In Latin America, however, the company added a record 645,000 net subscribers in the latest quarter, up from 472,000 subscribers tacked on a year earlier. The company had a total of 9.1 million subscribers in the region by the end of the quarter, a 36% jump from the year earlier.

DirecTV reported a profit of $711 million, or $1.09 a share, up from year-earlier profit of $701 million, or 91 cents a share. The latest quarter included a $43 million pre-tax non-cash loss from the revaluation of the U.S. dollar denominated liabilities in Brazil.

Revenue increased 9.5% to $7.22 billion, driven by a roughly 20% revenue growth in Latin America. Analysts were looking for earnings of $1.14 a share on $7.21 billion in revenue, according to a poll conducted by Thomson Reuters.

Operating margin widened to 19.5% from 18.6%.

After gapping down this morning, the shares are currently down by a little over one percent.

Posted by on August 2nd, 2012 at 10:00 am


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.

Tickers: