DirecTV Sees Return to Profit as Sales Climb

DirecTV Group Inc. swung to a profit in the second quarter, reporting Thursday that subscriber growth drove a sharp rise in revenue for the satellite television broadcaster.

The El Segundo-based company, which is controlled by global media conglomerate News Corp., earned $162 million, or 12 cents a share, in the three months ended June 30, contrasted with a loss of $13 million, or 1 cent, a year earlier.

The latest results included a tax credit of $31 million that was offset by $65 million in debtrelated charges.

The earnings came in well ahead of the average estimate of 4 cents a share from analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Revenue totaled $3.19 billion, a 21% increase from a year earlier. The company attributed the growth to greater per-user revenue, which rose 4.3% last quarter.

In its U.S. division, DirecTV’s quarterly net subscriber additions fell 45% to 225,000, but its overall customer base rose 12.5% for the year to 14.7 million.

“Overall, we feel good about where we fit competitively and generally about the second quarter,” said Chase Carey, DirecTV’s president and chief executive.

Carey said high-credit-risk subscribers added a year ago helped drive the amount of churn -- the number of new customers who later drop the service -- during the quarter to unacceptable levels.

DirecTV shares rose 42 cents to $15.83.