DirecTV Group Inc. said Wednesday that it turned from a loss to a profit in the fourth quarter and that it attracted more new subscribers during the period than in the past 10 years.

The El Segundo company, which is the largest U.S. satellite TV provider, reported net income of $618 million (74 cents per share), compared with a loss of $32 million (-3 cents) a year earlier. Revenue rose 11 percent to $6.62 billion from $5.98 billion.

Adjusting for one-time items, per-share profit was the same, 74 cents. Analysts surveyed by Thomson-Reuters on average expected adjusted profit of 62 cents on revenue of $6.52 billion.

The company said it added a net 667,000 subscribers during the quarter, with strong growth both in the United States and Latin America. About 289,000 of those were in the United States, more than double its growth in the 2009 quarter.

The company said subscribers apparently were attracted by a new digital video recorder that can be used from more than one room, and by the service’s free high-definition programming. “The majority of new subscribers came from cable providers,” Chief Executive Mike White said during a conference call.

For the full year, DirecTV had net income of $2.2 billion ($2.30) on $24.1 billion in revenue, compared with 2009’s net income of $942 million (95 cents) on $21.6 billion.

The company still expects to report $5-per-share annual earnings by 2013.

Shares closed up 80 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $45.03 on the Nasdaq.