Dish Network's (Nasdaq: DISH) fourth quarter and annual earnings, announced today, sound a lot like cable results lately. The satellite provider accrued 8.2 percent more revenue in the quarter ($3.21 billion versus $2.96 billion a year ago) but lost approximately 156,000 subscribers. Fourth quarter earnings were up 41 percent ($252 million versus $179 million in the same quarter a year ago).
For the year, Dish revenues were up 8.4 percent to $12.64 billion compared to $11.66 billion in 2009. Even with the fourth quarter subscriber loss, the satellite provider said that it gained a net of 33,000 subs during the year, leaving its subscriber base at 14.1 million.
Dish has been acquisitive of late, buying Liberty-Bell Telecom in December and putting in a bid for bankrupt hybrid satellite/telephone company DBSD this month. At the same time, the satellite provider has been mentioned by analysts as a potential acquisition target itself with AT&T (NYSE: T) in the buyer's position.
For more:
- see this news release
Related articles:
Dish Network ups telecom service game, acquires Liberty-Bell Telecom
Competition watch: AT&T could have Dish Network, EchoStar in acquisition sights
Satellite stories: Dish buys DBSD; DirecTV blackout could lift