Dish Network Q4 profit rises, subscribers fall

Satellite television provider Dish Network said today that its fourth-quarter profit rose 24 percent, but it lost more than 100,000 subscribers.

The company's results fell just short of Wall Street forecasts.

The Englewood, Colo.-based company earned $217 million, or 48 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, up from $175 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales rose 1 percent to $2.92 billion from $2.89 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 49 cents per share on sales of $2.96 billion.

During the quarter, the company says it lost 102,000 subscribers, leaving the company with 13.68 million subscribers as of Dec. 31. This is a drop of almost 1 percent from the 13.78 million customers it had at the end of 2007.

In its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dish Network cited a number of factors for the drop, including the economy, aggressive promotional moves by competitors to get and keep subscribers, competitive marketing and the rise of fiber-based and Internet-based video companies.

For the full year, Dish Network earned $902.9 million, or $1.98 per share, compared with $756.1 million, or $1.68 per share, in 2007.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $11.62 billion.