Cablevision Systems Corp reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as its investments lost money and video subscribers defected to competitors.

The New York area cable company reported a fourth-quarter net profit of $78.4 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $323.2 million, or $1.11 a share.

Earnings from continuing operations were 26 cents per share. Wall Street analysts on average had expected 36 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $2.15 billion. Analysts had forecast $2.10 billion.

Cablevision lost 2,800 video customers during the quarter as it faced stiffer competition from rivals like Verizon Communications Inc and satellite companies.

But during the quarter it added 45,700 Internet customers and 51,400 phone customers.

Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce had been expecting Cablevision to lose 3,000 video subscribers, but add just 26,000 Internet users and 26,000 phone subscribers.

Cablevision, which is controlled by the Dolan family, formally spun off its Madison Square Garden Inc unit earlier this month.

MSG is home to the venue of the same name as well as Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks basketball team and the New York Rangers hockey team.

Shares of Cablevision were up 4.4 percent at $23.83 in early New York Stock Exchange trading.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn)

Verizon Communications Inc.