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DirecTV Q4 earnings edge down on higher interest
LOS ANGELES - DirecTV Group Inc. said Wednesday higher interest payments on its debt sent fourth-quarter earnings down 2 percent, but the satellite TV operator's revenue jumped 17 percent on strong subscriber growth and the lowest rate of U.S. customer defections in eight years.

Its stock rose 52 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $24.40 in early trading.

The El Segundo, Calif., company earned $348 million in the quarter compared with $356 million a year ago. Per-share income rose to 30 cents from 29 cents because the company had more shares outstanding in the latest period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for profit of 29 cents per share.

Revenue rose 17 percent to $4.88 billion, exceeding Wall Street's estimate for $4.77 billion.

Revenues were driven mainly by net subscriber growth in the U.S. and Latin America and higher average revenues per subscriber, which rose 8.3 percent to $87.40 due to higher prices for programming, high-definition and digital video recorder, and equipment fees.

DirecTV added 474,000 net subscribers during the quarter, including 275,000 in the U.S., closing out the period with a total of 16.8 million subscribers, up 6 percent from 15.9 million at the end of the same quarter in 2006.

The company's monthly churn rate in the U.S., or the pace of customer defection, fell during the most recent quarter to 1.42 percent, the company said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_8250236