Comcast Q1 Profit Beats Estimates, But Revenues Miss

(RTTNews) - Comcast Corp. (CMCSA, CMCSK) on Thursday reported a 14 percent increase in profit for the first quarter from last year on a double-digit growth in revenues. Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations, while revenues missed their estimates.

Net income attributable to Comcast for the first quarter rose to $3.55 billion or $0.77 per share from $3.12 billion or $0.66 per share in the year-ago period.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.76, compared to $0.65 per share in the prior-year period. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.67 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the quarter grew 17.9 percent to $26.86 billion from $22.79 billion in the same period last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $27.21 billion.

"Comcast Cable had the best quarterly EBITDA growth in over a decade, while NBCUniversal again posted favorable results. We also continued to strengthen our leadership position in valuable customer relationships and premium content," Brian Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast said.

Revenue for Cable Communications increased 4.2 percent to $14.3 billion in the quarter, driven primarily by increases in high-speed internet and business services revenue.

Total customer relationships increased by 3.6 percent to 30.7 million in the quarter and include net additions of 300,000, representing an improvement of 19,000 from the year-ago period. Total high-speed Internet customers increased by 375,000 in the quarter, while total video customer net losses were 121,000.

However, revenue for NBCUniversal decreased 12.5 percent to $8.3 billion from last year, when results included an incremental $1.6 billion of revenue generated by the broadcasts of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the NFL's Super Bowl LII at the company's TV businesses.

Cable Networks and Broadcast Television revenue collectively decreased 19.8 percent, while Filmed Entertainment revenue grew 7.4 percent to $1.8 billion.

Revenue from British Broadcaster Sky, which Comcast has acquired, decreased 5.0 percent from last year to $4.8 billion on a pro forma basis.