US-based online video streaming provider Netflix announced that its profits more than doubled for the second quarter of the year, thanks to strong growth in subscribers at home and overseas.

The company recorded a profit of US$71 million, or $1.15 per share, for the second fiscal quarter ending June 30, compared with US$29.5 million, or 49 cents per share, for the same period last year.

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The current fiscal year figures are in line with analyst expectations of US$1.16 per share.

Despite a price increase in May, the company gained 570,000 customers in the U.S. during the period from May to June this year.

The new subscribers bring the number of Netflix customers worldwide to more than 50 million.  Subscriptions in international markets stood at 1.2 million customers.

Netflix said the second season of the Emmy-nominated series "Orange is the New Black" helped attract more customers during the quarter.

The company produced "Orange" and the Kevin Spacey-starrer "House of Cards" to strengthen its position against rivals Hulu and Amazon.com Inc.

Netflix plans to expand into Europe, in particular France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, according to company executives.

The target is to build an international subscriber base of 180 million customers. That is twice as large as the current U.S. market.

David Wells, the company's chief financial officer, confirmed there were also plans to expand into China, noting the country is "conspicuously large, and it's conspicuously a growing and very strong economy."

But Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said China was currently not Netflix's priority.

In an interview, the CEO emphasized, "We are really focused on Europe at this point."

On the planned merger of Time Warner Corp. and Comcast Corp., Netflix reiterated that it was against the move.

It said U.S. regulators should not allow the merger to proceed, or it should set up conditions to ensure that the combined company does not charge video providers higher fees for access to broadband networks.

TagsNetflix profit, Amazon, Hulu, Comcast-Time Warner