Continued adoption of basic and advanced cable packages helped Cablevision Systems Corp. substantially reduce its losses in the first quarter of 2007.
A day after the company announced it is going private, it reported it lost $26.3 million, or 9 cents per share, compared to a loss of $58 million, or 20 cents per share, a year ago.
At the same time, the operator’s revenue jumped 12.5 percent to $1.59 billion from $1.41 billion, thanks to higher sales of its programming packages and triple-play bundles. The cable TV division gained 20.8 percent in operating income on a 15.4 percent increase on revenue. Rainbow, Cablevision’s programming unit, reported $15.8 million in profits. That’s compared to a loss of $4 million during the first quarter of 2006.
The company’s stocks were down 40 cents during mid-day trading, to $35.50.
Cablevision Systems Corp. www.cablevision.com
