EchoStar posts first-quarter loss

Thursday, May 6th 2004, 10:52 am

By: News On 6

ENGLEWOOD, Colorado (AP) _ Satellite TV giant EchoStar Communications Corp. reported a $43 million loss for the first quarter on Thursday, partly due to charges associated with the early redemption of bonds.

The loss of 9 cents a share for the January-March period contrasted with a profit of $58 million, or 12 cents a share, for the first quarter of 2003.

EchoStar's revenue rose 16 percent to $1.58 billion from $1.36 billion a year ago.

The company said it added about 360,000 subscribers the first three months of this year. Its Dish Network, the second largest U.S. satellite TV service after DirecTV, reported a total of 9.78 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter.