US firm Netflix has filed a relatively satisfying end to a difficult 2011 by finally stemming the flood of domestic customers abandoning ship, and has also managed to achieve modest growth for its international launches.

The company added 610,000 domestic customers across its online streaming and DVD-by-mail businesses in the further quarter of 2011 to reach a total of 24.4mn unique subscribers, generating revenues of US$ 847mn and profits of US$ 246mn (up 43% and 62% respectively on an annual basis).

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings stated in a letter to shareholders that he and CFO David Wells see the biggest long-term domestic threat as coming from TV Everywhere services, and from HBO GO in particular, which they describe as the "leading TV Everywhere implementation to date".

The company also revealed that it had reached 1.5mn international streaming customers by the end of 2011, after launching first in Canada a little over a year ago, then in Latin America in 2011, and in the UK and Ireland at the beginning of 2012.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Netflix's overseas costs doubled to US$ 89mn, while revenues rose by a third to reach US$ 29mn. The company posted a loss of US$ 60mn for its international operations in the fourth quarter of 2011, and warned again that this will worsen as it seeks to build up its content catalogue, to the point where it expects to make a total international contribution loss of up to US$ 118mn in the first quarter of 2012.

“[Spending money on content] improves the consumer experience, builds strong word of mouth and positive brand awareness, and drives additional acquisition, all elements of a strong foundation for long-term success," said the company in its Q4 statement. "As we improve the service, we grow membership and thus we expect the quarterly international losses to moderate slightly.”

Total revenues across all operations for the fourth quarter of 2011 reached US$ 876mn, up 47% from one year earlier, while net profits fell 13% by the same comparison to reach US$ 41mn.

Mssrs. Hastings and Wells concluded by saying that big international losses over the coming year (and particularly in the UK) will mean a company-wide loss of up to US$ 27mn in the first quarter of this year, but added that there will be no further international launches until the company returns to profit.