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Comcast Q3 Profit Up 50%, Beats View
[October 23, 2014]

Comcast Q3 Profit Up 50%, Beats View


(dpa-AFX International Compact Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) PHILADELPHIA (dpa-AFX) - Cable television giant Comcast Corp. (CMCSA, CMCSK) on Thursday reported a 50 percent surge in profit for the third quarter from last year, helped by a one-time tax adjustment and additional subscribers to its high-speed Internet services.



Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations. However, quarterly revenues for Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, missed estimates.

Brian Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast said, "Cable results highlight the consistent strength of high-speed Internet and business services, and video customer results were the best for a third quarter in seven years." The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based company reported net income for the third quarter of $2.59 billion or $0.99 per share, up from $1.73 billion or $0.65 per share in the prior-year quarter. The latest quarter's results include favourable income tax adjustments of $0.28 per share.


Excluding income tax adjustments and transaction-related costs, adjusted earnings for the latest quarter were $0.73 per share, compared to $0.65 per share in the same period last year.

On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.71 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Consolidated revenues for the quarter increased 4 percent to $16.79 billion from $16.15 billion in the same quarter last year, but missed analysts' consensus estimate of $16.83 billion.

Cable Communications revenues improved 5 percent to $11.04 billion, reflecting increases of 10 percent in high-speed Internet, 21 percent in business services and 1 percent in video. Advertising revenue also grew 12 percent, while voice revenue edged down 0.5 percent from last year.

The company's customer relationships in the quarter increased by 82,000 to 26.9 million, more than three times the customer net relationship net additions in the year-ago period.

Revenue for NBCUniversal rose 1 percent from the prior-year period to $5.92 billion, reflecting increases in cable networks, broadcast television and theme parks, partly offset by a decline in theatrical revenue in filmed entertainment.

Revenue from cable networks edged up 0.7 percent to $2.26 billion, reflecting a 5.1 percent increase in distribution revenue, partially offset by a 4.6 percent decline in advertising revenue.

Revenue from broadcast television increased 8 percent to $1.77 billion from last year.

Filmed entertainment revenues decreased 15 percent to $1.19 billion, and revenue from theme parks increased 19 percent to $786 million from the year-ago quarter.

Comcast said its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.225 per share on the company's common stock. The quarterly dividend is payable on January 28, 2015 to shareholders on record January 7, 2015.

CMCSA is trading at $52.99, up $1.50 or 2.91 on a volume of 4.98 million shares.

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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