Time Warner Cable 3Q Results Short Of Expectations As Video Subs Fall

The No. 2 cable operator reported net income of $356M, down 1.1% vs the same period last year, on revenues of $4.9B, up 3.7%. Earnings came in at$1.09 a share, missing the $1.14 that analysts expected. They also thought revenues would be slightly higher at $4.95B. The miss came as Time Warner Cable lost 128,000 residential video customers, ending the quarter with 11.9M. The company says that the drop in subs as well as inrevenues from premium channels and transactional VOD outweighed the additional cash the company saw from price increases and payments for installation charges and DVR services. The number of home broadband customers increased 9.2% to 9.8M in the quarter — but the company lost 8,000 residential phone subscribers, ending with 4.5M. All told, CEO Glenn Britt says that the company “posted steady financial progress” but will continue to “focus our efforts on maximizing our growth opportunities.” Still, some analysts are concerned. “If broadband is the anchor product, then video is increasingly simply the anchor,” Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett says. “Subscribers are falling, costs are rising, and margins are contracting.”