Its contribution profit, after costs, was up 28 percent to USD 416 million, giving a margin of 19.8 percent, and operating profit was better than expected, at USD 70 million. Net profit also came in higher than forecast, at USD 41 million, and Netflix aims for a net profit over the full year as well.
The slower customer growth was in the US, where the company gained just 162,000 new streaming subscribers, for a total 47.1 million, and abroad, where Netflix gained 1.52 million customers versus a forecast of 2.00 million. Netflix blamed this on the delayed price hike, which took effect for many older customers in the period, leading to churn. Revenues in the US were still up 18 percent to USD 1.21 billion, and the margin of 34.3 percent was a point ahead of expectations. International sales rose 67 percent to USD 758 million, and the segment had a loss of USD 69 million.
Netflix expects international customer growth to improve to around 2 million additions in Q3. The early launch countries, from 2010-13, should also contribute around USD 500 million in profit this year. This includes Canada, UK/Ireland, Latin America, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.
