04.05.2015 14:45:59

Comcast Q1 Results Top Estimates On Broadband Boost

(RTTNews) - Cable television giant Comcast Corp. (CMCSA, CMCSK) reported Monday a profit for the first quarter that increased from last year and topped analysts' expectations, helped by new subscribers to its high-speed Internet services.

Quarterly revenues for Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, also beat estimates.

"We are off to a great start in 2015, with 7.6% operating cash flow growth and record quarterly free cash flow. Cable had a terrific quarter, once again reflecting strong results in high-speed Internet and business services. We have made progress in transforming the customer experience while delivering improved products and innovations faster than ever before," Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said.

The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based company reported net income attributable to Comcast of $2.06 billion or $0.81 per share for the first quarter, higher than $1.87 billion or $0.71 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the latest quarter was $2.03 billion or $0.79 per share, compared to $1.81 billion or $0.68 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.74 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Consolidated revenues for the quarter increased 2.6 percent to $17.85 billion from $17.41 billion in the same quarter last year, and topped twenty-three Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $17.41 billion.

Excluding $376 million of NFL's 2015 Super Bowl revenue, and $1.1 billion of 2014 Sochi Olympics revenues, consolidated revenue increased 7.2 percent.

Cable Communications revenues improved 6.3 percent to $11.43 billion, reflecting a strong 10.7 percent growth in high-speed Internet revenues, 21.4 percent in business services and 3.0 percent in video. Meanwhile, advertising revenue edged down 0.7 percent, and voice revenue declined 1.5 percent from last year.

High-Speed Internet customer net additions of 407,000 improved from last year and was the best result in the last two years, while video customers declined by 8,000 and voice net additions slowed to 77,000.

Revenue for NBCUniversal declined 4.0 percent to $6.60 billion from a year ago, but grew 7.9 percent excluding the 2015 Super Bowl and 2014 Sochi Olympics revenues.

"At NBCUniversal, we had another excellent quarter, led by Super Bowl XLIX, which was the most-watched television program of all time, along with the tremendous box office success of Fifty Shades of Grey, and the exceptional performance of The Wizarding World of Harry PotterTM - Diagon AlleyTM in Orlando," Roberts added.

Revenue from cable networks declined 5.9 percent to $2.36 billion, but grew 4.9 percent excluding the 2015 Super Bowl and 2014 Sochi Olympics revenues.

Revenue from the broadcast television decreased 14.2 percent to $2.25 billion from last year, but improved 5.5 percent excluding the 2015 Super Bowl and 2014 Sochi Olympics revenues.

Filmed entertainment revenues increased 7.0 percent to $1.45 billion, and revenue from theme parks increased 33.7 percent to $651 million from the year-ago quarter.

Operating Income for the quarter grew 9.0 percent to $3.89 billion from $3.57 billion last year.

Comcast also announced that it plans to repurchase an additional $2.5 billion during 2015, subject to market conditions, bringing its total 2015 share repurchase plan to $6.75 billion.

In late April, Comcast called off its proposed $45.2 billion all-stock friendly merger with Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) and its deal with smaller rival Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR). The decision to terminate the merger was mutual due to delay in anti-trust reviews amid regulatory resistance.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday that Charter has reached out to Time Warner Cable for talks about a possible merger of the two cable operators.

CMCSA closed Friday's regular trading session at $58.41, up $0.61 on a volume of 15.57 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $49.16 to $60.85.

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