• by Wayne Friedman , October 31, 2013

Time Warner Cable, the second-biggest U.S. cable operator, posted mixed third-quarter results.

Revenue rose 2.9% to $5.52 billion -- largely as a result of gains from its high-speed Internet business, which climbed 14.2% to $1.46 billion. While revenue increased, the company actually experienced a slight loss in customers in this business during the period -- to 11.05 million in the third quarter from 11.074 million in the second quarter of 2013.

Its bigger business, that of residential video sales, sank 4.5% to $2.6 billion. Time Warner was in a bitter carriage fee battle with CBS during this period. Its video customers dropped to 11.414 million in the third quarter of 2013, from 11.720 million in the second quarter of 2013.

But the company said some of this was offset by overall price increases and a greater percentage of subscribers buying higher-tier programming services.

Phone/voice business slipped 6% to $498 million, with total residential businesses (video, Internet, voice) yielding about the same revenues as in the third-quarter 2012 period -- $4.579 million versus $4.548 million.

One of the larger gains from the company was with its business services unit -- up 20.5% to $594 million. Overall, its average monthly revenue per residential customer relationship grew 1.9% to $105.06 per month.  
      
Advertising revenue sank 4.2% to $253 million as a result of lower political advertising sales.

Net income attributable to shareholders sank 34.2% to $532 million, while operating income rose 6.0% to $1.16 million .