Comcast improves revenue in first quarter thanks to Sky deal

Comcast has revealed how the cable major has improved its financial performance during the first quarter of 2019.
Comcast revenue Q1 2019Comcast reported revenue of $26.9 billion (+17.9 percent), net income of $3.118 billion (+14 percent) and Adjusted EBITDA of $8.6 billion (+18.1 percent) reflecting the inclusion of Sky results in the first quarter of 2019.

Comcast generated revenue of $14.3 billion (+4.2 percent) from Cable Communications, $8.3 billion (–12.5 percent) from NBCUniversal, $2.9 billion (–9.2 percent) from Cable Networks and $2.5 billion (–29.4 percent) from Broadcast Television in the first quarter of 2019.

Comcast said its capital expenditures rose 6 percent to $2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2019. Cable Communications’ Capex fell 19.4 percent to $1.4 billion, reflecting a lower level of spending on customer premise equipment and scalable infrastructure.

Comcast said Cable Capex represented 9.5 percent of Cable revenue in the first quarter of 2019 compared to 12.3 percent in last year’s first quarter.

Sky had Capex of $259 million, reflecting investment in customer premise equipment, including deployment of Sky Q.

Cable business details

Comcast’s revenue from Cable Communications rose 4.2 percent to $14.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019, driven primarily by increases in high-speed internet and business services revenue.

High-speed internet revenue rose 10.1 percent, driven by an increase in the number of residential high-speed internet customers. Business services revenue grew 9.5 percent, due to an increase in the number of customers and rate hike.

Wireless revenue rose 21.4 percent, reflecting an increase in the number of customer lines, partially offset by lower device sales as more customers bring their own device.

Comcast video revenue dropped 0.5 percent, due to a dip in the number of residential customers, partially offset by rate hike. Advertising revenue decreased 4.5 percent, primarily due to a decline in political advertising revenue. Voice revenue fell 1.6 percent, reflecting a decrease in the number of residential voice customers.

Total customer base increased by 300,000 to 30.7 million. Residential customer base rose by 276,000 and business customers grew by 25,000.

Comcast has added 375,000 high-speed internet customers. Comcast lost 121,000 video customers and 53,000 voice customers. Comcast added 170,000 wireless customers.