Comcast Loses Thousands of Customers: Comcast shared its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, showing a mix of wins and struggles. The company earned more money than analysts expected, but its total sales were just a bit below predictions. While Comcast’s broadband service faced tough competition, its mobile and media businesses provided some good news.
Broadband Struggles, Mobile Grows
Comcast’s internet service lost 181,000 domestic customers during the quarter. The company said some of these losses were balanced by more international subscribers signing up. Pay TV customers also dropped by 245,000, leaving Comcast with 11.27 million total pay TV users.
On the bright side, Comcast’s mobile business continued to grow. It added 364,000 new mobile customers, bringing its total to over 9.3 million. Comcast started focusing more on mobile last year because competition for broadband customers has been fierce. Wireless providers like Verizon and T-Mobile have been taking some of Comcast’s internet users.
“The competitive environment for broadband remains intense,” said Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong. “Wireless competition picked up at the end of the fourth quarter, but we continue to push our new strategy to attract customers.”
Earnings Beat, But Revenue Slightly Misses
Comcast’s fourth-quarter earnings topped analyst expectations with a reported net income of $2.17 billion ($0.60 per share) compared to $4.78 billion ($1.24 per share) in the same quarter last year. This a 54.6% decrease YoY.
Comcast’s Q4 FY2017 revenue of $32.31 billion fell slightly short of Wall Street analyst Q4 FY2017 revenue forecasts of $32.35 billion. Comcast’s adjusted EBITDA for Q4 FY2018 was $7.90 billion and the company’s total adjusted operating income was $3.06 billion ($0.84 per share) adjusted for one-time items such as tax benefits and other non-operating items.
Comcast’s cable & data connectivity platform unit, which includes broadband, cable TV and mobile services, had revenue of $20.24 billion, a decline of 1% compared to the same quarter last year. Broadband Internet revenue was $6.32 billion, a decline due to fewer customers although higher prices partially offset the losses.
NBCUniversal and Peacock Bring Some Wins
Comcast’s media unit, which includes NBCUniversal, saw revenue rise 5.5% to $7.62 billion. Domestic advertising increased 1.5%, helped by the NBA on NBC. NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, added 3 million paid subscribers, ending the year with 44 million, though it reported a $552 million loss in the quarter.
Universal Studios revenue dropped 7.4% to $3.03 billion due to weaker movie releases, while Universal theme parks grew 22% to about $2.9 billion, thanks to the new Epic Universe park. This quarter also marked the last time NBCUniversal reported earnings for all its cable networks after some were spun off to a new company, Versant.
While broadband might offer limited competition in particular locations, Comcast has been successful in growing new opportunities through both mobile and entertainment.
What direction do you think Comcast will take next to keep ahead of competition? Let us know in the comment box below!
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