Hughes 4th Qtr. Revenue Rises 11%, Takes Loss
By Jeff Malester -- TWICE, 1/21/2002
El Segundo, Calif. — Satellite television provider Hughes Electronics reported a 10.8 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue, climbing to $2.28 billion, compared with $2.06 billion in the same three months last year.
However, Hughes reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $132.6 million, compared with net income of $1.1 billion in the same three months in 2000.
The change was due primarily to the gain on the sale of Hughes' satellite manufacturing businesses in the fourth quarter of 2000, increased net interest expense and lower earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, EBITDA was $118.2 million, compared with $153.8 million in the year-ago period, due to losses from Hughes' DirecTV DSL service that provides high-speed Internet access on phone lines.
The major player in the company's revenue increase in the fourth quarter was its Direct-To-Home Broadcast segment — namely its DirecTV system — which increased its proceeds 12.7 percent to $1.71 billion, up from $1.52 billion in the fourth quarter of 2000. The segment had negative EBITDA of $5.3 million, compared with EBITDA of $16.4 million in the year-ago three months.
DirecTV, in the United States alone, reported quarterly revenue of $1.52 billion, up 12 percent from $1.35 billion in the same quarter in 2000. The increase was due primarily to subscriber growth. (See story, p. 4.)
For the year, the Direct-To-Home Broadcast segment had total revenue of $6.3 billion, up from $5.2 billion in 2000. The segment reported negative EBITDA of $74.8 million in the 12 months, up from a negative EBITDA of $24.5 million in the same period in 2000.
For the full year, Hughes total revenue climbed 13.4 percent to $8.26 billion, up from $7.29 billion in 2000. The company attributed the increase mainly to increased U.S. subscriber growth at DirecTV.
Looking ahead, Hughes said revenue in the first quarter of 2002 should range between $1.95 billion and $2 billion, and $9 billion to $9.2 billion for the year.
U.S. DirecTV revenue in the first quarter of 2002 should be near $1.43 billion, said Hughes, with a range of $6 billion to $6.2 billion for the year.
No related content found.
VIEW ALL GALLERIES