Charter Communications reports 1st-quarter profit; subscribers up 3 percent

Charter Communications reports 1Q profit

ST. LOUIS — Cable TV provider Charter Communications Inc., which emerged from bankruptcy in November, reported Thursday its net income was $24 million in the first quarter, helped by a smaller debt load, one-time tax gains and a growing subscriber base.

The earnings amounted to 21 cents a share on revenue of $1.7 billion for the three months ended March 31.

Charter said lower interest expenses and tax gains helped its results and said it ended the quarter with 5.3 million subscribers.

Adding up the different bundled services it provides each customer, the total came to 12.9 million, up about 3.2 percent from those of its predecessor company a year ago.