• by Wayne Friedman , May 9, 2013

Still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, Cablevision Systems reported lower first-quarter financial results -- as well as missing Wall Street expectations.

The big Long Island, NY-based cable operator swung to a net loss of $16.7 million, down from a $57.1 million in net income of a year ago.

Revenues were $1.52 billion, down almost 1% from a year ago. Wall Street analysts were expecting $1.65 billion. Mid-day trading of its stock was down sharply -- 7% to $14.41.

One thing that was predictable: The slow continued loss of video subscribers, down 5,000 in the period to 2.888 million. Cable TV revenues were $1.36 billion, down 0.7%

But total subscribers  -- including  phone and Internet businesses -- continued to rise, adding 5,200 to a total of 3.23 billion. Looking at just its phone and data businesses -- its Lightpath division -- revenue was up 3.7% to $82.5 million. Both phone and Internet businesses each grew 23,000 customers -- Internet to 2.786 million and phone to 2.287 million.

Cablevision, as with many cable operations, sells multiple combinations of products to its customers.

Other positive news: The average monthly revenue per basic video customer grew 1.3% to $156.34 a month.

James Dolan, president and chief executive officer of Cablevision, state: "Cablevision started the year off delivering sequential growth in our customer relationship, high-speed data and voice subscriber metrics, all while continuing to recover from the impact of Superstorm Sandy."

"In the second quarter, we anticipate the positive impact of our recent pricing moves, as well as an improved advertising outlook to lead to sequential improvement in AOCF [Adjusted Operating Cash Flow]," he said.