New internet customers boost Comcast 4th-quarter profit

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FILE – This Jan. 24, 2019, file picture exhibits a Comcast truck in Pittsburgh. Comcast Corp. experiences monetary outcomes Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (AP Picture/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Comcast continued including web prospects within the fourth quarter, serving to elevate its internet revenue 26%.

The Philadelphia firm, which owns NBCUniversal and European broadcaster Sky in addition to a offering cable and web service within the U.S., has been specializing in broadband as extra individuals stop conventional cable. Offering web is extra worthwhile for Comcast than supplying cable video service.

It added 442,000 web prospects within the fourth quarter, whereas dropping 149,000 video prospects. It misplaced 733,000 video prospects in 2019, and expects to lose extra in 2020 because it raises costs and extra individuals shift to getting TV on the web. A more recent enterprise for Comcast Corp. is cellular, and it added 261,000 cellphone strains. General, the video-and-internet division’s income rose 2.6% to $14.77 billion.

Whereas greater than 80 million U.S. households nonetheless pay for cable TV, the transfer to video on the web prompted Comcast to launch a streaming service, Peacock, later this 12 months, right into a market crowded with providers from its rivals.

In its NBCUniversal division, income dropped 2.6% to $9.15 billion, harm by the weak debut of “Cats” on the field workplace.

General revenue got here to $three.16 billion, or 68 cents per share, from $2.51 billion, or 55 cents per share, the 12 months earlier than. Excluding one-time prices, earnings had been 79 cents per share, topping the common estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Zacks Funding Analysis of 75 cents per share.

Income rose 2% to $28.four billion, beating the analysts’ estimate of $28.19 billion.

Comcast shares fell $1.03, or 2.2%, to $46.41 in mid-morning buying and selling. They’ve climbed 36% within the final 12 months.

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