Time Warner Cable Misses Q3 Earnings Projections on Lower Demand

Company loses cable TV subscribers amid rising competition, consumers cutting down

Time Warner Cable Inc, the second largest U.S. cable operator, reported a quarterly profit that missed estimates as a continuing decline in video subscribers offset rising demand for its high-speed internet services.

Like larger rival Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable has been losing cable TV subscribers amid rising competition and consumers cutting down on discretionary spending and is increasingly relying on internet services to drive growth.

The company lost 140,000 video customers during the third quarter. It added 85,000 internet customers but no phone subscribers in the residential segment.

Broadband services revenue grew 14.3 percent, including additions from Insight Communications. Time Warner Cable acquired Insight for $3 billion to expand in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

Net income attributable to the company rose to $808 million, or $2.60 per share, for the quarter, from $356 million, or $1.08 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.34 per share, versus analysts' average expectation of $1.43 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $5.36 billion, while analysts had expected $5.39 billion.