EchoStar Communications, the Douglas County-based operator of satellite- TV provider Dish Network, said fourth- quarter profit rose 15 percent on a surge of new customers.

EchoStar added 350,000 subscribers during the quarter, beating analysts' estimates by about 100,000, for a total of 13.1 million. It didn't see any impact from a court ruling requiring it to stop broadcasting digital network signals to 900,000 customers. EchoStar enlisted another company to provide the service, curbing potential customer defections.

EchoStar President Carl Vogel said the company was reviewing a way to offer a broadband alternative but has not found the right mix.

"As you can tell from our results, we're pretty pleased with our core business, but we do understand that we probably need to get further along in broadband going forward," he said.

• Net income: $152.6 million, or 35 cents a share, up from $132.6 million, or 30 cents, a year earlier.

• Revenue: $2.58 billion, up 17 percent from a year earlier.

NEW WORLD RESTAURANT The Golden- based operator of bagel chains including Einstein Bros. and Noah's New York Bagels reported a profit for the quarter ended Jan. 2, reversing a loss from a year earlier.

President and CEO Paul Murphy said Thursday that the company plans to accelerate store openings, from five new stores in 2006 to upward of 15 this year.

• Net income: $6 million, or 54 cents a share, up from a net loss of $723,000, or 7 cents, a year earlier.

• Revenue: $92.4 million, down 5 percent from a year earlier.

VIACOM INC. The owner of MTV, BET, VH1 and several other cable channels said profits more than tripled in the fourth quarter following the addition of the DreamWorks studio last year, which swung its movie business to a profit.

• Fourth-quarter profit: $480.8 million, or 69 cents a share, vs. $129.5 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier. Analysts expected 58 cents per share, excluding one-time items.

• Revenue: $3.59 billion, up 32 percent from $2.72 billion a year earlier.

SEARS HOLDINGS CORP. The operator of Sears and Kmart stores saw fourth- quarter earnings rise 27 percent, ahead of Wall Street forecasts, as margins improved despite weaker sales at established stores.

• Fourth-quarter profit: $820 million, or $5.33 a share, up from $648 million, or $4.03, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, net income totaled $5.36 a share.

• Revenue: $16.3 billion, up 1 percent from $16.1 billion a year ago. Analysts predicted $5.18 a share on revenue of nearly $16 billion.

INBEV SA The brewer and Belgium- based maker of Stella Artois, Beck's and Brahma said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as it increased sales across all regions except Western Europe.

• Fourth-quarter profit: $490 million, up from $218 million a year earlier when the company was hit by restructuring costs but just short of analysts' forecast of $495 million.

• Revenue: $4.74 billion, up 8.2 percent from a year earlier.