In the second quarter — Comcast’s first full quarter owning 100 percent of NBCUniversal, in which it had previously held a 51 percent stake — earnings rose to $1.7 billion, or 65 cents a share, from $1.35 billion, or 50 cents a share, in the period a year earlier. Wall Street analysts had been expecting earnings of 63 cents a share.
Total revenue rose 7 percent, to $16.3 billion, from the second quarter of 2012, lifted by the continued growth of the company’s broadband Internet and business products. Free cash flow increased 25 percent, to $1.9 billion. Comcast was the first major television and Internet provider to report quarterly earnings, so its healthy results may augur more good news when others report in the weeks to come.
It is broadband, not cable television, that is generally bolstering cable companies’ results these days, because nearly nine out of 10 American households already subscribe to some sort of TV, but only two-thirds subscribe to broadband. Comcast gained 187,000 new broadband subscribers in the second quarter.
Comcast has been losing TV subscribers to DirecTV and Verizon FiOS for years. It lost another 159,000 in the second quarter, but the rate of loss has slowed lately. The company squeezed a 2.7 percent revenue gain from its television business, largely through rates increases and subscribers who chose more expensive packages.
Its revenue gain on the broadband side, however, was 8 percent.
“Cable had outstanding growth, particularly in high-speed Internet, and NBCUniversal had strong performance across all of its businesses,” Brian L. Roberts, the chief executive of Comcast, said in a statement. He credited the company’s “focus on delivering innovative products and a superior customer experience is driving our success, including stronger video, voice and business services results in cable.”
At midday, Comcast stock was up more than 5 percent, passing the $45 and nearing a record high.
Mike McCormack, a media analyst for Nomura, said in a note to investors that NBCUniversal’s performance also exceeded expectations, “with filmed entertainment and broadcast television revenue offsetting weaker-than-expected theme parks revenue.”
NBC’s cable channels, including USA, Syfy and Bravo, posted a 7.7 percent increase in revenue, to $2.41 billion in the quarter, while its somewhat smaller broadcast business, which has been in a rebuilding mode, had a 11.6 percent bump, to $1.73 billion. Mr. McCormack attributed the broadcast unit’s gains to “better ratings and higher retransmission consent fees.”
With regards to the ratings, Comcast executives credited “The Voice,” the singing competition on NBC that has given the network some much-needed momentum.
Over all at NBCUniversal, revenue was up 8.9 percent year-over-year, to almost $6 billion.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: July 31, 2013
Because of a rounding error, an earlier version of the headline with this article misstated the increase in earnings for Comcast. Earnings increased 28.6 percent, not 26 percent, in the second quarter.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/business/media/comcast-profit-jumps-26-on-growth-of-broadband.html?partner=rss&emc=rss