Comcast reported revenue of $17.4 billion for the first quarter, beating analysts’ predictions with help from the Sochi Winter Olympics.
The cable company and owner of NBCUniversal reported profits of 71 cents a share, up from 54 cents a share a year earlier. With adjustments, the earnings came to 68 cents a share, up from 51 cents a share a year ago. It beat Wall Street expectations of 64 cents a share and $17.02 billion in revenue.
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Revenue for NBCUniversal increased 28.8 percent to $6.9 billion in the first quarter, compared to $5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2013. It was mostly driven by Olympics revenue of $1.1 billion in the Broadcast Television and Cable Networks segments. Comcast noted that NBC is currently the top network in the key 18-49 demographic. Bravo, meanwhile, had its best quarter in network history in the key demos.
Comcast’s consolidated operating cash flow increased 10 to $5.5 billion. Excluding $17 million in costs related to Comcast’s efforts to buy Time Warner Cable, consolidated operating cash flow increased 10.4 percent.
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The company added 24,000 video customers — marking the second consecutive quarter of gains. It gained 383,000 high-speed video customers.
“Overall, the company is performing well and the more planning we do for our proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, the more excited we are by the opportunities for the combined company,” said Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts. “Comcast has tremendous momentum right now, and we believe the TWC transaction will strengthen a truly world-class organization that will be well positioned to compete and yield meaningful benefits to our customers, employees, and shareholders.”