Time Warner Cable 1Q profit up 30 percent as it added Internet, phone, digital cable customers

Time Warner Cable 1Q profit rises 30 percent

PHILADELPHIA — Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation’s second largest cable TV company, said Thursday that first-quarter earnings rose by 30 percent as it added more Internet, phone and digital cable TV customers.

The company also had a more than 19 percent increase in revenue from advertising in a wide range of categories, most significantly automotive. It also charged higher prices for its basic cable service.

Chief Executive Glenn Britt said the Time Warner Cable was able to increase quarterly earnings despite stiffer competition due to product improvements and better marketing while it more effectively managed costs.

Time Warner Cable earned $214 million, or 60 cents per share, in the quarter. That compares with a profit of $164 million, or 48 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue rose more than 5 percent to $4.6 billion from $4.36 billion.

The cable company’s earnings were below the 74 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. But revenue exceeded their average forecast of $4.56 billion.

However, Time Warner Cable lost 42,000 basic video customers in the quarter. Cable companies have been losing subscribers to satellite TV providers and phone companies that offer video. In the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year, the company had said that the economy continued to weigh on its customers, who cut back on their subscriptions of premium movie channels and ordered fewer videos on demand.

Among the video subscribers remaining, 102,000 signed up for digital cable TV service in the quarter.

Time Warner Cable, based in New York, also added 212,000 residential Internet customers and 86,000 home phone subscribers.