DirecTV Group revenues improved 17 percent to $4.1 billion in the 2007 second quarter but profits fell slightly to $448 million, the company announced Aug. 9. A year ago, the company reported profits of $459 million on revenues of $3.5 billion.

DirecTV credited the revenue gain to strong growth in average revenue per subscriber and a larger subscriber base at DirecTV U.S. as well as the consolidation of Sky Brazil’s financial results following the August 2006 merger.

“The quarterly results for DirecTV U.S. in many ways they reflect the growing demand for advanced services by our customers,” Chase Carey, president and CEO, said in a statement. “Strong revenue growth of 12 percent to over $3.7 billion was fueled by a nearly 7 percent increase in [average revenue per user] to $76.43 due in large part to approximately 50 percent more high-definition and digital video recorder customers in the quarter. This increase in customer demand for advanced services also contributed to the higher gross additions of 900,000 and lower monthly churn rate of 1.58 percent, resulting in net subscriber additions of 128,000 for DirecTV U.S. in the quarter.”

Higher depreciation and amortization, primarily from increased capitalization of customer equipment under the DirecTV U.S. lease program, led to the slip in profits.