Comcast, NBCU Report Q2 Revenue Gains

NBCUniversal’s second-quarter revenues rose by 18.7 percent to $9.4 billion, while parent company Comcast Corporation reported total revenues of $30 billion, a 5.1 percent increase.

“Our financial results in the second quarter were very strong across the board, with Cable, NBCUniversal and Sky each delivering solid growth in adjusted EBITDA, resulting in a double-digit increase in adjusted earnings per share and healthy free cash flow generation,” said Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “Significantly, we accomplished this while also continuing to invest in our businesses’ future growth, increasing our return of capital to our shareholders, and keeping our balance sheet in a great place. In Cable, we achieved our highest adjusted EBITDA margin on record even amid a unique and evolving macroeconomic environment that is temporarily putting pressure on the volume of our new customer connects. At NBCUniversal, terrific results at theme parks fueled our growth in the quarter, and we expect our recent premieres and planned slate of content and live events from our media and studios businesses, including Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Nope, Sunday Night Football and the World Cup, to make significant contributions later this year, including to our subscriber growth at Peacock. And, at Sky, we grew adjusted EBITDA by double digits, with year-over-year improvement in each of our markets in Europe. Looking ahead, our company is in an enviable strategic and financial position, with substantial cash flow generation and a strong foundation for innovation.”

NBCUniversal reported higher revenues across media, studios and theme parks. Media revenues rose 3.6 percent to $5.3 billion, driven by improved distribution revenues, with ad revenues down 1.3 percent. Studios revenues were up 33 percent to $3 billion, reflecting higher theatrical and content licensing revenues. Theme parks were up by almost 65 percent to $1.8 billion.

Sky’s overall revenues fell by 13.8 percent to $4.5 billion, with direct-to-consumer revenues down 12.8 percent, content revenues down 25.3 percent and advertising revenues down 13.5 percent. The platform ended the quarter with 22.7 million customers, a net loss of 255,000

At Comcast Cable, revenues rose by 3.7 percent to $16.6 billion, led by broadband, wireless, business services and advertising, with lower voice and video revenues. Total customer relationships decreased by 28,000 to 34.4 million, including the loss of 521,000 video customers to reach 17.1 million.