The DIRECTV Group Announces First Quarter 2009 Results

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lee78221

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DIRECTV U.S. Net Subscriber Additions Up 67% to 460,000

DIRECTV U.S. Passes 18 Million Subscriber Mark Driven by 22% Increase in Gross Additions and the Lowest Monthly Churn Rate in 10 Years of 1.33%




EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 07, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTV) today reported that first quarter 2009 revenues increased 7% to $4.90 billion, operating profit before depreciation and amortization1 (OPBDA) declined 8% to $1.09 billion and operating profit decreased 35% to $424 million compared to last year's first quarter. The DIRECTV Group reported that first quarter net income attributable to The DIRECTV Group declined 46% to $201 million and earnings per share fell 38% to $0.20 compared with the same period last year.

"The growing momentum that we saw at the end of last year has continued into 2009 reflecting DIRECTV's brand strength and unparalleled service," said Chase Carey, president and CEO of The DIRECTV Group, Inc. "Net subscriber additions of 460,000 in the U.S. were the highest in 4 years and were 67% greater than the prior year. DIRECTV's competitive advantages, which include industry leading HD, interactive, sports and DVR services, were the driving force behind the 22% increase in gross additions to 1.18 million subscribers and the ten-year low monthly churn rate of 1.33%. We're also pleased that the overall credit quality of these new subscribers remains at our high standards and they continue to have a rich appetite for HD and DVR services.

"We also did a good job managing costs in the quarter particularly in the areas of programming, SAC and upgrade and retention marketing," Carey said. "However, increased economic and competitive pressures limited our ARPU growth to 0.8% due to more promotional offers given to new and existing customers, as well as lower premium movie, pay-per-view and advertising revenues in the quarter. Although the higher gross additions had an impact on OPBDA and cash flow in the quarter, we believe that these new subscribers in aggregate are highly profitable and will increase cash flows over the long term."

Carey added, "DIRECTV Latin America also posted solid subscriber results in a slower economic environment as higher gross subscribers drove net additions of 148,000 in the quarter. Monthly churn of 1.86% was higher than the prior year's quarter primarily due to the increasing popularity of our pre-paid offers in Brazil and Venezuela where our net acquisition cost remains less than $100 per subscriber. With the strong subscriber growth, revenues in the quarter grew 10% to $598 million overcoming a 16% decline in Sky Brazil's ARPU due to the weaker currency. DIRECTV Latin America's bottom-line results were also solid as operating profit before depreciation and amortization grew 38% when excluding a $72 million charge related to the exchange of Venezuelan currency to U.S. dollars."
Great Job DirecTV.:up

The DIRECTV Group, Inc. - The DIRECTV Group Announces First Quarter 2009 Results


Thanks bonscott87 over at DBSTalk for the link.

The conference call is this afternoon at 2pm eastern.
 
Wow! very impressive. By far one of their best quarters in a long time in just about every category.
 
very impressive! now it's time to reinvest that $$$ into new HD and new hardware :D
 
very impressive! now it's time to reinvest that $$$ into new HD and new hardware :D
That is the problem. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The converse may also be true, when they are doing well, then there is not need to do things to attract new subs. Why waste money on improving things when they do not need to? Of course, I wish they would. More HD would be nice.
 
Yep, now is a perfect time to invest that money into pushing new hardware out. Dump the SD boxes and give everyone HD equipment + HD dishes, regardless if they subscribe to HD right this minute. Offer anyone who calls in an upgrade. Get everyone on MPEG4 and you can dump MPEG2 for SD!
 
That is the problem. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The converse may also be true, when they are doing well, then there is not need to do things to attract new subs. Why waste money on improving things when they do not need to? Of course, I wish they would. More HD would be nice.


This is my thoughts exactly. There is no reason for D* to try harder unlike when they only had 10 HD channels and E* was lapping them. That sucks for us current customer.s :(
 
This is my thoughts exactly. There is no reason for D* to try harder unlike when they only had 10 HD channels and E* was lapping them. That sucks for us current customer.s :(

they shouldn't wait until the problems begin either ;) that's what E did and now they're doing this and that to stop the hemorrhage of subs..
 
they shouldn't wait until the problems begin either ;) that's what E did and now they're doing this and that to stop the hemorrhage of subs..

Unfortunately when people like Malone are running the company, they become too short-sighted and care about the current bottom line and stock price and don't worry about two years later. Got to keep the current stock holders happy which means maximize profits now. Don't worry about later.
 
Unfortunately when people like Malone are running the company, they become too short-sighted and care about the current bottom line and stock price and don't worry about two years later. Got to keep the current stock holders happy which means maximize profits now. Don't worry about later.

That's true. It doesn't help that him and charlie are buddies either.........
 
This is great news and terrible news at the same time. If DirecTV continues to do so well, I see no incentive for them to increase their HD offerings or fix their sub-par HD DVRs.

Well there are two paths they can take. They can get complacent and stagnate since they're on top; or, they can get nervous and keep innovating and improving. I think they have stuff in the pipeline on hardware that they will continue to deliver, and they have a new satellite that they aren't going to let sit up there with nothing on it. They can't go tit for tat day to day with Dish or cable, things take time, but I am perfectly happy being a DirecTV customer right now.
 
Those are good numbers, but they better start adding more channels before they lose people. I want my locals and RSN in full time HD.
 
Yep, now is a perfect time to invest that money into pushing new hardware out. Dump the SD boxes and give everyone HD equipment + HD dishes, regardless if they subscribe to HD right this minute. Offer anyone who calls in an upgrade. Get everyone on MPEG4 and you can dump MPEG2 for SD!


Well when you read this you will realize DirecTV will have MPEG2 SD programming and receivers for a long time to come.;)

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