DirecTV profit rises 10 pct on US subscriber growth

The El Segundo, Calif.-based company said net income climbed to $371 million, or 32 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31 from $336 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago.

It added 275,000 net U.S. subscribers, well above analyst expectations of about 180,000, and increased its domestic subscriber base by 5.2 percent to 17.1 million.

"The overarching question is where are all these subscribers coming from?" said analyst Craig Moffett of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "Last time I looked, the news said we were on or near a recession. And yet the pay TV market seems to be undergoing some kind of renaissance."

DirecTV shares rose $1.22, or 4.7 percent, to $27.02 in trading Wednesday, near the high end of their 52-week range of $18.20 to $27.73.

Revenue rose 17 percent to $4.59 billion from $3.91 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a net profit of 31 cents per share on revenue of $4.47 billion.

Chief executive Chase Carey said subscriber growth continued upward despite economic headwinds.

"I wouldn't attribute much to the economy one way or the other," he told analysts on a conference call. "It has not had a material impact on the results you're seeing from us."

Average monthly revenue per U.S. subscriber rose 8.6 percent from a year ago to $79.70, driven by price increases for programming, higher fees for high-definition and digital video recording equipment and services and better pay-per-view sales, the company said.