Comcast Corporation Q1 Profit Falls

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Comcast Corporation reported a lower profit in Q1 2020, as NBCUniversal and Sky felt the impact of COVID-19 while Comcast Cable delivered increased revenues.

Comcast’s revenues were down 1 percent at $26.6 billion, but net profit fell 39.6 percent to $2.1 billion.

“Society is being challenged like never before in our lifetime, and I couldn’t be prouder of our company, our employees, and our leadership team across Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal and Sky,” said Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “Now more than ever the world needs to stay connected, and we’re extremely pleased that our investments in our network continue to pay off as we are handling significant increases in traffic and meeting our customers’ needs. While parts of our business have been more impacted by COVID-19 than others, we have continued to innovate. We are distributing our content in new ways, as evidenced by the recent launch of Peacock on X1 and Flex. We’ve also taken decisive action, having moved over 95 percent of our U.S. call-center employees to work from home and putting in place new procedures that have allowed more than 15,000 construction workers to safely come back to work to build our theme park in Beijing. All the divisions of our company are in constant communication, and the level of collaboration has been extraordinary. We have a strong balance sheet, a terrific portfolio of assets, and a world-class management team. This is a moment in time; and when it passes, I am very confident that the decisions we are making now will enable us to emerge from this crisis as a healthy, strong company that is well-positioned to continue to grow and succeed.”

First-quarter revenues at NBCUniversal fell by 7 percent to $7.7 billion. The cable networks segment was relatively stable at $2.9 billion, as decreases in distribution revenue (1.5 percent) and advertising revenue (2.2 percent) were offset by an increase in content licensing and other revenue (up 13 percent). Meanwhile, broadcast television was up 8.8 percent to $2.7 billion, with a 31.3 percent gain in content licensing revenue and a 6.9 percent gain in distribution and other revenue, while ad revenues were flat. Filmed entertainment was down 22.5 percent to $1.4 billion as theatrical revenues dropped by 28.8 percent and content licensing fell 15.4 percent. Other revenue decreased by 20.3 percent, primarily due to COVID-19’s impact on the company’s live stage play and movie ticketing and entertainment businesses. Theme park revenues fell 31.9 percent to $869 million due to the closures of Universal Studios Japan, Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sky reported Q1 revenues of $4.5 billion, with direct-to-consumer down 1.9 percent to $3.7 billion, content revenues down 10.5 percent to $325 million and ad revenues 11.6 percent lower at $513 million, all largely due to COVID-19. Total customer relationships decreased by 65,000 to 23.9 million, reflecting the postponement of sports events and the suspension of certain sales channels due to COVID-19.

At Comcast Cable in the U.S., meanwhile, revenues were up 4.5 percent to $14.9 billion, driven by high-speed internet, business services and wireless revenues. Total customer relationships increased by 371,000 to 31.9 million.