TCI Posts Profit in First Quarter

Tele-Communications Inc. reported an unexpected profit in the first quarter, its first in more than two years, on strong demand for digital cable television and a gain on the sale of assets. The Englewood, Colo.-based company’s U.S. cable unit had net income of $238 million, or 44 cents a diluted share, compared with a loss of $84 million, or 12 cents, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a loss of 6 cents. Revenue rose 2.5% to $1.87 billion. Revenue from cable operations rose 5.6% to $1.50 billion, while the number of cable subscribers fell 6.4%, reflecting the closing of several transactions to swap or sell cable systems in selected markets. TCI said the recent quarter’s results include pretax gains of $511 million from the asset sales, which it said were offset by net operating loss tax credits. TCI reports separate results for its Liberty Media programming unit, TCI Ventures Group and TCI International Inc. later this week.