ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Dish Network said Monday that its fourth-quarter profit fell even as the number of its subscribers grew for the third consecutive quarter.
The nation’s second-largest satellite TV operator has been picking up subscribers from rivals partly due to an aggressive ad campaign that says its TV packages are more affordable.
Dish’s earnings slipped 18 percent to $179 million, or 40 cents per share, but still topped the 32 cents-per-share estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. These estimates usually remove one-time items.
The satellite TV operator reported a profit of $217 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue for the period ended Dec. 31 climbed 1 percent to $2.96 billion from $2.92 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s $2.94 billion.
Dish Network gained about 249,000 net subscribers in the quarter.
Full-year earnings declined 30 percent to $636 million, or $1.42 per share, compared with $903 million, or $1.98 per share, in the previous year.
Annual revenue edged up slightly to $11.66 billion from $11.62 billion.
Dish Network Corp, based in Englewood, Colo., had approximately 14.1 million subscribers at year’s end after gaining about 422,000 subscribers during 2009.