Cablevision Turns Profit in 3Q, Beats the Street

Cablevision (NYSE:CVC) swung to a profit in the third quarter and easily beat earnings projections, even though the cable operator lost subscribers.

Cablevision said Friday it earned $294.6 million, or $1.10 a share. The company’s year-ago loss was $3.8 million, or one cent a share, in a period that included a $61.1 million loss related to certain write-offs. The latest quarter had $16.5 million in similar losses.

Excluding Clearview Cinemas and a western cable system that have been sold, per-share earnings from continuing operations jumped to 22 cents from just a penny last year. That’s double the 11-cent consensus estimate from Wall Street.

Revenue was up 1.8% at $1.57 billion, meeting expectations.

The Bethpage, N.Y., company said it lost 37,000 video subscribers, 18,000 voice subscribers and 13,000 broadband users from the second quarter. Cablevision’s total customer roll hit 3.2 million by the end of the latest period, down 29,000 sequentially.

Cablevision has faced greater competition from other pay-TV options like Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) FiOS service, as well as video streaming services like Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).

In April, Cablevision agreed to sell Clearview to Bow Tie Cinemas. Earlier in the year, Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) agreed to buy Optimum West, Cablevision’s western cable system, for $1.62 billion in cash.

The moves were intended to help Cablevision focus more on its core market in New York and surrounding states.

Shares rallied 1.3% to $15.83 in early morning trading. Cablevision has lagged behind the broader market this year, with the stock rising just 4.6% year-to-date through Thursday’s close.