Dish reports 6.6 pct fall in quarterly profit on Hurricane Maria

Dish Network reported third-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates on Thursday, as the U.S. satellite TV service provider deactivated subscribers in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands following Hurricane Maria.

The company paused services to the two islands after Maria caused widespread loss of power and infrastructure and the company deactivated about 145,000 subscribers in the regions.

Accounting for these changes, Pay-TV subscribers declined about 129,000 in the third quarter, the company said.

Dish said it added 16,000 net Pay-TV subscribers in other markets.

The satellite TV service provider also said it expects certain expenses to re-activate customers.

Net income attributable to Dish fell to $297 million, or 57 cents per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30 from $318 million, or 67 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 59 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue fell to $3.58 billion from $3.77 billion.

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)