Comcast reports second quarter earnings; strong growth at NBCU
Comcast this morning released its 2nd Quarter 2011 Results
Consolidated Revenue increased 50.5%, reflecting the full impact of consolidation of results from the NBCU joint venture. Operating Cash Flow increased 28.5% and Operating Income increased 41.4%, while EPS increased 19.4% to $0.37. Excluding transaction-related costs and a non-cash tax charge, EPS increased 27.3% to $0.42, the company said.
On a pro forma basis (more of an apples-to-apples comparison), overall revenue grew 9.4% from a year ago.
Video subscriber losses, a key metric, came in at 238,000, down from 265,000 from a year ago though a little higher than some analysts' expectations. Video revenues were up 1.3%, high speed internet was up 10.3%, and voice revenues were up 7%. Comcast gained 144,000 high speed internet customers and 193,000 voice customers. Business Services revenue grew 42% to 435 million, as Comcast said it increased its investment in that segment by 48%.
Total Cable Communications revenue was $9.3 billion, up 5.6% from last year.
NBCUniversal revenue for the 2nd quarter was up 17.1% compared to last year at $5.2 billion, with strongest growth coming from broadcast television, filmed entertainment, and theme parks.
During its conference call, management continued to emphasize that while it is pleased with some of the progress being made at the NBC Network, it is still in fourth place and turning it around is going to be a long haul project. They have no plans to accelerate the pace for buying out more of NBCU from GE.
Comcast says about 90% of both its digital conversion and Docsis 3.0 rollout are complete.
Managenent also indicated it has no intention of pursuing an Over the Top (OTT) strategy outside of its existing customer footprint.
The costs of programming acquisition are expected to continue to grow in the mid to high single digits.
Comcast's shares are off slightly so far today.
In other coverage:
Comcast CEO: No business model for over-the-top video (Gigaom)
Basic Momentum Continues at Comcast
Retention Efforts Help Sub Losses Improve in Q2 (Multichannel News)
Comcast’s Burke: NBCU Content ‘More Valuable’ Thanks To Retrans, Online (paidContent)
NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke: 'We're Off to a Great Start' (Hollywood Reporter)
Analysis: NBC Might Not Be as Bad as Expected (Hollywood Reporter)
Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
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