DirecTV 1Q profits climb 10%

Subscriber growth and increased demand for high-definition and digital-video-recorder services help DirecTV Group Inc. post a 10 percent jump in first-quarter earnings.

In the quarter, the company earned $371 million, or 32 cents a share, topping analyst estimates of 31 cents a share. In the first quarter of 2007, the company earned $336 million, or 27 cents a share.

Quarterly revenues came in at $4.59 billion, up 17 percent from $3.91 billion a year ago. Average revenue per subscriber was up 8.6 percent, coming in at $79.70.

Content Continues Below

In its earnings announcement, DirecTV said that controlling shareholder Liberty Media Corp., which acquired the stake from News Corp.in Februaryand thenincreased that stake to 48 percent in April, would keep its stake at 48 percent in exchange for the increasing of the company's stock buyback program to $3 billion.

The company also announced Wednesday that it will raise $2.5 billion in debt, $1.35 billion through a private offering of notes due 2016 and $1 billion under an existing secured credit facility.

DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) is a satellite television provider based in El Segundo. It has about 17 million customers in the United States and about 5.1 million customers in Latin America.