Satellite TV provider DirecTV's profit and revenue rose in the second quarter, but it lost more subscribers in the United States than analysts had expected.
This was the first time it lost subscribers in a quarter.
For the three months ended June 30, DirecTV lost 52,000 subscribers. Analysts on average had forecast a loss of 36,000, according to StreetAccount data. It ended the quarter with 19.91 million subscribers in the U.S.
DirecTV said in a statement that some of the subscriber losses were caused by its stricter credit policies and its focus on higher paying subscribers. DirecTV also said it attracted fewer subscribers through its telecom sales channel in the quarter. It partners with Verizon in the U.S. to sell its TV services.
In Latin America, it added 645,000 new subscribers, which beat analysts' estimates of 549,000 subscribers.
Dish, DirecTV's major U.S. rival, fared better with subscribers in the second quarter. Dish, the No. 2 satellite provider, said in July it lost 10,000 subscribers in the same period, a better-than-expected performance and a vast improvement from a year ago when it lost 135,0000 subscribers.
On Thursday, cable provider Time Warner cable said it lost 169,000 video subscribers in the quarter.
DirecTV generated an increase in revenue per subscriber in the quarter thanks to price increases on programming packages, it said. Its average monthly revenue per subscriber was $94.40 compared to $90.58 a year ago.
Net income rose to $711 million, or $1.09 per share, from $701 million, or 91 cents a share, a year earlier. DirecTV's revenue rose 9 percent to $7.2 billion. Analysts had projected revenue of $7.21 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
