DirecTV Posts Quarterly Profit

Satellite television provider DirecTV Group reported a fourth-quarter profit as it added more subscribers, reflecting an improving economy where customers have more to spend on their TV viewing.

Net income came to $618 million, or 74 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $32 million, or 3 cents per share.

Revenue rose 11% to $6.62 billion from $5.98 billion.

The company said it had added 289,000 subscribers in the quarter. Kaufman Brothers analyst Todd Mitchell had expected DirecTV to add 255,000 subscribers in the United States in that time.