Q4 Gains for Comcast, NBCUniversal

PHILADELPHIA: NBCUniversal’s fourth-quarter revenues were up 7.5 percent, with Comcast Corporation’s overall revenues rising 6.2 percent in the period to $16.9 billion, delivering a net income of $1.9 billion.

"I am very pleased to report strong results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2013,” said Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “Our optimism and confidence in the future is demonstrated by our decision to increase our dividend 15 percent and our plan to repurchase $3 billion of our stock during 2014. Our results highlight the momentum we have achieved and how we are benefitting from scale, our investment in innovative products, and from our focus on operational excellence. Cable's operating metrics improved across video, high-speed Internet and voice for both the fourth quarter and full year, with a return to video subscriber growth in the fourth quarter. NBCUniversal had an outstanding year, with growth in broadcast, cable, film and parks. As we begin 2014, we remain excited about our businesses and intend to continue to prudently invest to enhance our strategic differentiation and to drive growth."

NBCUniversal’s Q4 revenues were $6.5 billion, including $2.3 billion from the cable networks, a 5.3 percent increase; $2.2 billion from broadcast television, an 11.5 percent hike; $1.4 billion from filmed entertainment, a gain of 4.9 percent; and $566 million from theme parks, which were up 8.8 percent.

At the cable division, revenues were up 5.2 percent in Q4 to $10.7 billion. The number of video customers fell to 21.7 million by year-end, despite a gain of 43,000 customers in the fourth quarter, while high-speed Internet customers rose to 20.7 million and voice customers increased to 10.7 million.

For the full year, Comcast Corp’s revenues were $64.6 billion, with a net income of $6.8 billion.