Satellite TV company EchoStar Communications enjoyed a net profit of $2.2 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $132.9 million in the year-ago second quarter. Operating income hit $64 million, compared with a loss of $86.2 million in the same quarter last year. This was the first quarter EchoStar posted net and operating income since the inception of its DISH Network.
EchoStar reported a 49.5 percent increase in revenue in the second quarter, reaching $966.3 million in the period, compared with $646.1 million in the same three months in 2000.
The company added about 350,000 net new subscribers in the second quarter, reaching 6.07 million. This is a 41 percent increase over the 4.3 million subscribers on board at the same time in 2000, and 6 percent better than the first quarter of 2001.
For the six months, EchoStar recorded a net loss of $164.8 million, down from the $318 million reported in the year-ago six months. Total revenue for the six months was $1.8 billion, compared with $1.2 billion in the same six months last year.
