Cablevision 4Q earnings grow, revenue slips

BETHPAGE, N.Y. (AP) — Cablevision Systems Corp., cable company for the New York area, posted higher fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday thanks to a lawsuit settlement, but its revenue slipped, hurt by Superstorm Sandy.

"The enormous challenges of Superstorm Sandy had a strong negative impact on our fourth quarter results," said James Dolan, president and CEO, in a statement. The damage resulted in credits to customers who lost service.

Cablevision earned $116.5 million, or 45 cents per share, in the October-December period. That's up from $60.6 million, or 22 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

The latest quarter's results included a gain of 78 cents per share from a lawsuit settlement with Dish Network.

Revenue slipped 2 percent to $1.66 billion from $1.69 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting revenue of $1.7 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.

Cablevision had 3.6 million total customers at the end of December, down by 39,000 from the end of September. This included a loss of about 11,000 customers located in areas most affected by Sandy, the company said.

For the year, its net income fell to $233.5 million, or 87 cents per share, from $291.9 million, or $1.02 per share, a year ago. Annual revenue was almost steady at $6.7 billion.

The company's shares fell $1.50, or 9.7 percent, to $13.97 in midday trading Thursday. The stock has traded in the 52-week range of $10.76 and $18.86.