CMCSA Comcast Corporation

By Benjamin Mullin 

Comcast Corp. said its NBCUniversal media unit and high-speed internet business fueled growth in the fourth quarter.

The company also is raising its quarterly dividend 10% in 2019 to 84 cents per share.

Overall, Comcast's revenue increased 5.2% from the year-earlier quarter to $28.3 billion, when the effect of its acquisition of pay-TV operator Sky PLC is factored in.

Earnings at the Philadelphia-based company shrank to $2.51 billion, or 55 cents a share, from $15 billion, or $3.17 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter, when results were boosted by a one-time tax benefit. Excluding that year-earlier tax benefit, Comcast earnings grew 36% to 64 cents per share.

The results exceeded estimates from analysts surveyed by FactSet, which projected revenue of $27.55 billion and adjusted earnings of 62 cents a share.

Comcast continues to lose traditional pay-TV subscribers, though at a slower rate than some peers. The company narrowed its subscriber loss to 29,000, compared with 33,000 a year earlier.

The broadband business added 351,000 customers in the period and increased revenue 10.1%.

Revenue at the NBCUniversal division, which houses several TV networks and the Universal film and TV studio, jumped 7.1%. Adjusted operating earnings more than doubled at the broadcast TV unit, driven by growth in retransmission fees and advertising revenue.

Comcast's NBCUniversal unit earlier this month announced plans to launch an ad-supported streaming service, entering a field that has grown increasingly crowded. The service isn't slated to launch until 2020, but NBCUniversal has already said that it will produce original programming for it and offer it free to pay-TV subscribers.

Comcast also disclosed financial results for its Sky unit for the first time since it acquired the European pay-TV company in October of last year. Revenue at Sky rose 5.6% year-over-year to $5.02 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, with $3.98 billion from direct-to-consumer services, such as broadband and pay-TV subscriptions.

Write to Benjamin Mullin at Benjamin.Mullin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2019 07:42 ET (12:42 GMT)

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