Dish Network Profit Beats, Though Subscriptions Fell

By Joshua Jamerson

Dish Network Corp. posted surprise profit growth in the first-quarter, even as revenue grew less than expected and subscribership declined.

During the period ended March 31, Dish said it added roughly 657,000 paid subscribers, compared with about 723,000 in the year-ago quarter. Net subscribers declined 23,000 in the first quarter, compared with a 35,000 gain last year.

Over all, the company reported net income of $389.3 million, or 84 cents a share, up from $351.5 million, or 76 cents, a year ago. Revenue increased to $3.79 billion from $3.72 billion in the prior-year period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had anticipated 62 cents a share on $3.8 billion in revenue.

The company closed the first quarter with roughly 13.9 million pay-TV subscribers, compared with 14 million at the end of the 2015 first quarter. The company includes subscriptions to its Sling TV streaming service in its total pay-tv metrics.

Dish added 5,000 net broadband subscribers in the first quarter, bringing its total broadband base to about 628,000.

The company's stock, up 2.3% so far this month but still down 32% from a year ago, were unchanged premarket.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 20, 2016 07:20 ET (11:20 GMT)

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