DIRECTV Announces Record Setting Year with 4th Quarter Results

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Scott Greczkowski

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DIRECTV Fourth Quarter Results Complete Another Record Setting Year for the Company

DIRECTV Adds 667,000 Net New Subscribers in Q4 or 79% More Than a Year Ago Representing the Largest Quarter in 10 Years

* For the year, DIRECTV Latin America added a record 1.2 million net new subscribers or 76% more than a year ago bringing its cumulative subscriber total to 5.8 million or 8.9 million including Sky Mexico
* DIRECTV U.S. attained 663,000 net new subscribers in 2010 surpassing 19.2 million total customers driven by low churn of 1.53% and 4.1 million gross subscriber additions

DIRECTV Q4 Revenue Growth of 11% to $6.6 Billion and Operating Profit before Depreciation and Amortization Growth of 13% to $1.7 Billion Cap Record Year

* DIRECTV Latin America full year revenues grow 25% and operating profit before depreciation and amortization increases 67% driven by strong subscriber growth
* DIRECTV U.S. 2010 revenues increase 9% fueled by 4.9% ARPU growth while operating profit before depreciation and amortization climbs 11%

DIRECTV Increases Full Year Adjusted EPS 72% to $2.48 and Grows Full Year Free Cash Flow 18% to a Record $2.8 Billion

DIRECTV Board Approves $6 Billion Stock Repurchase Program

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) today reported an increase in fourth quarter 2010 revenues of 11% to $6.62 billion, operating profit before depreciation and amortization(1) (OPBDA) of 13% to $1.68 billion and operating profit of 23% to $1.06 billion compared with last year's fourth quarter. DIRECTV reported fourth quarter net income of $618 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.74 compared with a net loss of $32 million and a loss per share of $0.03 in the fourth quarter of 2009.

"Our fourth quarter results capped off one of DIRECTV's strongest years ever as we further extended our position as the world's largest provider of pay television services with over 28 million subscribers in the U.S. and Latin America," said Mike White, president and CEO of DIRECTV. "Fueled by the best quarter in a decade with 667,000 consolidated net additions, DIRECTV added 1.9 million new subscribers in 2010 representing the second best year in our history. In many ways our financial results were even stronger as we again generated industry-leading growth in revenue and operating profit before depreciation and amortization in 2010 of 12% and 20%, respectively. These strong results combined with our share repurchase program fueled a 72% increase in adjusted EPS to $2.48 and an 18% increase in free cash flow to a record $2.8 billion."

White continued, "We exit 2010 with good momentum and look to build on that in 2011 with a strategy designed to maintain our industry-leading revenue and earnings growth. In the U.S., our strategy focuses on delivering the best television experience both inside and outside of the home, generating incremental revenue streams in key areas such as DIRECTV Cinema, commercial and local/addressable advertising, as well as capturing productivity improvements throughout our company. In Latin America, our priority will be to continue leading the market in HD and DVR services while introducing exciting new products and services that target the rapidly growing middle market segments." White added, "With the successful execution of these strategies along with our plan for returning excess cash to shareholders, we remain confident in our ability to continue creating significant shareholder value as we strive to achieve our EPS target of $5 per share in 2013."

Read the rest and full number at DIRECTV, Inc. - DIRECTV Fourth Quarter Results Complete Another Record Setting Year for the Company
 
I knew they would have a good quarter, but I expected it to be more of the same. I didn't realize it would be this good. I think the key is the low churn rate. They are keeping the subs they currently have.

Revenue up for the quarter and the year. Net and gross sub additions up for the quarter and the year. Churn rate down.
 
Im confused..at one point they 667,000 new subs for the 4th quarter then they say 663,000 New (NET) US customers for the year
 
Im confused..at one point they 667,000 new subs for the 4th quarter then they say 663,000 New (NET) US customers for the year

I think 667k in Q4 was company wide (including Latin America), and the 663k net for the year is just US.
 
That was a very good quarter, much better than anyone would have expected, and the market shows it, Directv stock is up 4% in the first couple hours since the earnings release.
 
I predicted that after Dish's Q2 report came out that they will have a bad Q3 AND Q4 when it comes to subs. I was correct about Q3. I also thought Q4 will be worse than Q3. I am now going to say that Q4 will be better than Q3 for Dish. They may actually have a net sub gain.
 
I also think DISH will have bad numbers when they are announced... there is a reason why DISH is giving away things like free premiums for a year... its to try keeping customers sticky. Dish does not like giving stuff away and only does it when it has to.

I am going to scream is I hear Charlie on the earnings call blame the economy. He has said this so many time yet his competition has always done a lot better then him in the same economy... which leads me to believe ITS NOT THE ECONOMY.

I wish DISH would hire me as a consultant to give them a view point from the eyes of the consumers as those eyes are ultimately what DISH is staking its future on.
 
If anyone's interested, here's what Bloomberg is reporting about Directv earnings for Q4 2010 which came out today.

DirecTV Profit Beats Analysts' Estimates on Video, High-Definition Demand - Bloomberg

EDIT: Here's what Directv is saying
DIRECTV, Inc. - DIRECTV Fourth Quarter Results Complete Another Record Setting Year for the Company

Monthly revenue per customer at almost $96.96, depending on the time of the year I am there or over that, amazing what we will pay for tv :)
 
I am going to scream is I hear Charlie on the earnings call blame the economy. He has said this so many time yet his competition has always done a lot better then him in the same economy... which leads me to believe ITS NOT THE ECONOMY.

Well, I think you should get ready to scream because that's exactly what Charlie is gonna say. :)
 
I think 667k in Q4 was company wide (including Latin America), and the 663k net for the year is just US.
The Net adds were 289,000. 827,000 subscribers left.

The number that I find most astounding is the ARPU of $96.64. They must be doing something right.

The SAC is up $95 to $702 over last year.

For those new to this game:

ARPU is the Average monthly Revenue Per User -- the average monthly subscriber bill.

SAC is the average cost of acquiring and provisioning a new subscriber
 
Well, I think you should get ready to scream because that's exactly what Charlie is gonna say. :)
God I hope not, does Charlie think the Wall Street guys are dumb? Many of those people we hear on those earnings calls are SATELLITEGUYS members! I am not going to blow their cover but I have met and talked to a lot of these guys. They know whats going on and get turned off by the smoke and mirrors he tries throwing up at times.
 
I'm surprised not one analyst asked about their ever growing long list of HD Channel deficiencies. Is HD just not a profitable thing to sell anymore? Then why are many cable companies upgrading to all digital (or mostly digital) formats in order to have bandwidth for 100+ HD channels?

I am glad to hear straight from Mike White's mouth that an HD GUI is on the way for 2011. Let's hope it doesn't turn into DirecTivo vaporware.
 
According to Satracer they are already testing the HD Gui.

More transmission negotiations coming this year, so that could be good and bad for us. As far as what they dont have in HD, HD is a very very small part of their customer base, and as you can see, their bottom line aint hurting...
 
Those greedy SOB's. They have record profits and yet they still find the need to increase prices. When will enough be enough?
 
Those greedy SOB's. They have record profits and yet they still find the need to increase prices. When will enough be enough?

Not only that but cut the pay to the people that service and install those systems for them. Kind of hard to swallow another 100 - 200 a month pay cut when a company shows a 2.9 Billion profit.
 
Lost Too Many Customers to DTV

When you lose customers spending $120+ monthly like me due to abysmal customer service, it's going to affect your bottom line and increase that of DTV. When a CEO constantly brags about their great customer service, one can bet their bottom dollar it does not exisit.
 
The factual numbers being reported to not support the claims of the low % of people that claim they are the worst at customer service and the ones that claim not adding the handful of "missing" HD that most people really don't want or miss. There really is only a small handful of anything really "worth" having that's not already online; for the majority. Running a business is NOT about trying to do everything or having everything and appeasing the minority; its about running a sound company.

Some users simply ALWAYS have customer service issues and channel complaints, problems with every company they deal with; you just can't please everyone; nor should they try to.
 
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