A look at DirecTV’s fiscal fourth-quarter results and subscriber growth

DirecTV’s 4th-quarter numbers at a glance

DirecTV Inc. is one of the better performers in the subscription TV business. Unlike cable, it still attracts hordes of new customers even in a nation where more than eight out of 10 TV-viewing households already subscribe to cable, satellite TV or video service offered by phone companies.

But a weak economy and increasingly frugal customers have dampened the satellite TV company’s subscriber growth. Its cancellation rate also has risen.

Here’s a summary of DirecTV’s fourth-quarter results for fiscal 2009 compared to the same quarter a year earlier:

Revenue: $5.98 billion, up from $5.31 billion

Net loss: $32 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with a profit of $332 million, or 32 cents per share

Adjusted earnings after taking out merger costs: $454 million, up 37 percent, and equivalent to 48 cents per share

New subscribers, after cancellations: 119,000, down 60 percent

What customers pay per month on average: $92.36, up 2 percent partly due to price increases

Total subscribers: 18.6 million