House of Cards and Bloodline help boost Netflix subscriber base

US-based on-demand video streaming services firm, Netflix, has added 4.9 million subscribers across the globe in its first quarter ended on 31 March, taking its worldwide subscriber base to more than 60 million.

As of now, the company has a total of 62.27 million users in its more than 50 international markets, according to its latest earnings report. The company surpassed 40 million members in the US and 20 million in overseas markets.

The company earlier launched services in Australia and New Zealand, and expects to start in Japan later in 2015.

The company added that users streamed 10 billion hours in the quarter, indicating that "consumers around the world are embracing the internet TV revolution".

CEO Reed Hastings noted that new content including the third season of "House of Cards" and new series "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and "Bloodline" helped the company attract new customers to its service.

Following the news, the company's shares rose about 12% in the US on 15 April.

In line with the increase in the number of users, the company's revenue soared 24% for the most recent quarter to $1.57bn. However, the rate of growth lagged behind the previous quarter's 26%.

In addition, its profit declined by more than 50% to $23.7m, compared to $53.1m during the same period in 2014. The company attributed the lower profit to "currency-related transaction losses", as the strength in the US dollar negatively impacted its international revenue.

Looking ahead, the company expects to add 600,000 customers in the US and 2.5 million worldwide in the ongoing quarter.