But the company reported losses widened. Shares rose nearly 6 percent in the previous session. Charter reiterated its expectations of 2001 revenue growth of 14 to 16 percent and operating cash flow growth of 12 to 14 percent. The company also repeated its expectation of 2 million digital cable customers for 2001.
Digital cable allows cable television signals to be compressed, allowing more channels.
At the end of the first quarter, the company had 1.3 million digital cable customers, up 274,800 from last year on a pro forma basis. At the end of the first quarter, Charter had 343,300 customers, adding 90,000 during the quarter. The company increased its basic service customers by 2 percent to 6.3 million from 6.2 million a year ago on a pro forma basis.