(RTTNews) -  Thursday, DirecTV Group, Inc. (DTV: News ), a provider of digital television entertainment, reported a marginally higher profit for the third quarter, helped by lower net income attributable to non-controlling interest, even as higher income tax expenses offset an increase in revenue and operating profitability. The company also witnessed subscriber gains being offset by higher customer cancellations.

The El Segundo, California-based company's third-quarter net income attributable to the DirecTV Group rose slightly to $366 million or $0.37 per share from $363 million or $0.33 per share a year ago.

On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.39 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net income for the quarter declined to $384 million from $398 million in the prior-year quarter. Net income attributable to non-controlling interest decreased to $18 million from $35 million in the third quarter of 2008.

Revenues for the third quarter increased 10% to $5.47 billion from $4.98 billion for the third quarter of 2008. Analysts expected revenues of $5.42 billion for the quarter. The increase in revenue was principally due to strong subscriber growth at DirecTV U.S. and DirecTV Latin America.
Segment wise, revenue from DirecTV U.S. Increased 9% to $4.70 billion from $4.32 billion in the prior-year quarter. The growth in revenue was due to subscriber and ARPU growth.

Commenting on the revenue growth in DirecTV U.S. segment, Larry Hunter, chief executive officer of the group, said, "Continued robust demand for our service fueled an 8% increase in gross additions to 1.1 million subscribers and net additions of 136,000 primarily due to the addition of AT&T as a marketing partner and record demand for our industry-leading HD and DVR services. In fact, about two-thirds of new subscribers signed-up for HD and/or DVR services in the quarter representing the highest level in our history."

Net subscriber additions from DirecTV U.S. Segment declined to 136 thousand in the quarter as an increase in gross additions was more than offset by higher customer disconnects. The 8% increase in gross additions to 1.09 million in the third quarter was mainly due to marketing of the AT&T/DirecTV bundle, as well as higher demand for HD and DVR services. Customer disconnects were higher in the quarter due to a higher monthly churn rate of 1.72% on a larger subscriber base, the company noted.

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