Time Warner Cable Second-Quarter Earnings Rise

Time Warner Cable on Thursday reported improved second-quarter financials, but it lost more video subscribers than Wall Street had expected.

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The cable giant's profit amounted to $452 million, compared with $420 million in the year-ago quarter. That was an increase of 7.6 percent. Adjusted profit, which excludes certain items, were $466 million, compared to $408 million.

Revenue for the company, led by CEO Glenn Britt, increased 9.3 percent to $5.4 billion.

TWC lost 169,000 residential video subscribers in the second quarter to end it with 12.47 million. In the year-ago period, it had lost 130,000.

Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker called the earnings report a mixed bag. "Mixed results with financials and share repurchases better, but subs light," she summarized.

Britt on an earnings conference call said "competitive activity remains intense," the housing market is "still sluggish," and unemployment continues to be "stubbornly high." Nonetheless, he emphasized: "I feel very good about our competitive and financial position."

TWC president and COO Rob Marcus said that sub trends in the third quarter currently look like the trends of the year-ago period. But he said the company would stop providing updates in between calls at the end of the year.

TWC shares rose in early Thursday trading.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai