Comcast Q3 Adj Profit Tops View, But Revenues Miss

(RTTNews) - Cable television giant Comcast Corp. (CMCSA, CMCSK) reported Wednesday an adjusted profit that topped analysts' expectations, helped by additional subscribers to its home-phone and Internet services.

Excluding gains on sales of certain assets, adjusted net income was $1.73 billion or $0.65 per share, compared to $1.25 billion or $0.46 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 30 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.61 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

However, quarterly revenues for Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, missed their estimates.

Consolidated revenues for the quarter declined 2.4 percent to $16.15 billion from $16.54 billion in the same quarter last year, and missed twenty-seven Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $16.25 billion.

Excluding 2012 London Olympics, quarterly revenues grew 5.2 percent.

"Our businesses generated strong revenue and cash flow growth and record free cash flow for the third quarter. Cable's results highlight the underlying strength of our residential and business services. We are driving innovation, expanding our service offerings, and bringing new and rich content to more platforms than ever before," Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement.

Cable Communications increased 5.2 percent $10.5 billion, reflecting increases of 7.9 percent in high-speed Internet, 26.4 percent in business services and 2.9 percent in video, partially offset by a 10.8 percent decline in advertising amid lower political advertising revenue.

The company's combined video, high-speed Internet and voice customers in the third quarter increased by 337,000, or 14.9 percent from the net additions in the year-ago quarter. This was driven by growth in high-speed Internet and voice customers, partially offset by video customer losses.

Revenue for NBCUniversal decreased 14.2 percent to $5.9 billion from a year ago, but increased 3.9 percent after excluding 2012 Olympics revenue.

"NBCUniversal delivered solid performance in every one of its segments, with healthy growth in revenue and double-digit cash flow growth, adjusting for the results of the Olympics last year. Comcast NBCUniversal has real momentum and many opportunities ahead," Roberts added.

Revenue from cable networks grew 4.0 percent to $2.2 billion, reflecting a 5.4 percent increase in distribution revenue and a 4.6 percent rise in advertising revenue, partially offset by a 6.5 percent decline in content licensing and other revenue.

Revenue from the broadcast television decreased 41.1 percent to $1.6 billion, but excluding 2012 Olympics, revenues increased 2.6 percent.

Filmed entertainment revenues improved 3.3 percent to $1.4 billion, and revenue from theme parks increased 7.9 percent to $661 million from the year-ago quarter.

Operating Income for the quarter grew 12 percent to $3.41 billion from $3.05 billion last year.

CMCSA closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $47.71, down $0.49 on a volume of 13.47 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $34.95 to $48.35.