KOLKATA: US-based telecom conglomerate Comcast has posted strong quarterly results on the back of rapid growth in its broadband business. The company has posted a 6.9 per cent rise in fourth quarter net profit. Its new streaming service Peacock has also grown significantly with 11 million new subscribers.
Comcast added 538,000 broadband customers during the quarter, leading to a 6.3 per cent revenue growth in the company’s cable segment reaching $15.7 billion. Additionally, it added two million broadband customers last year.
Peacock – NBCUniversal's premium AVoD streaming service – now has 33 million sign-ups across the US. The company expects its exclusive agreement to stream wrestling matches from the WWE Network, and the recent launch of The Office on the platform in the US to drive sign-ups and engagement for the streaming service.
However, its theme park and film segment continued to be under pressure with 63 per cent and 8.3 per cent drop in revenue respectively.
It continued to lose TV subscribers, with a churn of 248,000 in the fourth quarter. Overall, the company lost 1.4 million cable TV customers in 2020.
Comcast’s consolidated revenue stood at $27.7 billion in Q4 2020, compared to $28.4 billion in the same quarter in 2019. For the twelve months ended 31 December 2020, revenue decreased 4.9 per cent to $103.6 billion compared to 2019. Net income attributable to the telecom decreased 19.3 per cent to $10.5 billion. Adjusted net income decreased 16.4 per cent to $12.1 billion. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 10 per cent to $30.8 billion.
Comcast Corporation chairman & CEO Brian L Roberts noted that the outstanding performance at cable drove very strong fourth quarter results for the company. With the vaccines rolling out throughout the world, he said the company is optimistic that the parts of the business that had been most impacted will soon be back on a path towards growth.
"This confidence is shared by our board of directors, which has announced an increase in the dividend for the thirteenth consecutive year. In addition, it is now our expectation that we will be in a position to begin repurchasing shares again in the back half of this year," he added.
The global media and technology company is the owner of Comcast cable, NBCUniversal and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’ largest high-speed internet, video, and phone providers to residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides these services to businesses.
