On a GAAP basis, the company posted first-quarter EPS of $1.20, compared with EPS of $1.07 in the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings do not include a pretax charge of $166 million related to the devaluation of Venezuela’s currency.
DirecTV added 21,000 U.S. subscribers in the first quarter, and average revenue per customer rose 4.4% to $96.05. In the company’s Latin American division, the net subscriber count grew by 538,000, which was slightly lower than the growth in the same period a year ago. Average revenue per customer fell 10.5% to$54.23, primarily due to currency effects. The company said that stripping out currency effects average revenue per user rose 1.5%.
The company’s CEO said:
Our industry leading revenue growth of 8% continues to be driven by the strength of our premier brands and popularity of our differentiated product and service offerings across the Americas, as well as our ability to profitably grow [average revenue per user] in a challenging U.S. operating environment.
Perhaps the company’s best move in the quarter was something it did not do. DirecTV declined to pay the asking price of around $9 billion for the Brazilian unit of Vivendi. Shares jumped to a new 52-week high shortly after that decision was announced and have continued to rise since.
Shares are up 4.1% this morning at $60.37, which would mark a new 52-week high if it holds. The current 52-week range is $42.87 to $58.45. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $60.20 before today’s report.
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