Even as cable giant Comcast tries to get bigger by absorbing Time Warner Cable, its own revenue grew in the last quarter to $16.8 billion, up 3.5 percent from last year, and net income hit $1.99 billion. The most important number for a subscription business though is how many customers it has, and through a traditionally slow quarter, it managed to slow the loss of total “customer relationships” to 25,000 from 66,000 for the same period last year. More of the customers that remain are picking up internet and phone services, as it has over 21 million high speed internet subscribers alone.
Comcast Corp., the U.S. cable company seeking to acquire its next-largest rival, reported second-quarter profit that topped estimates as more customers signed up for high-speed Internet service. Earnings, excluding some items, were 75 cents a share, beating the 72 cents that analysts projected on average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Philadelphia-based company added 203,000 broadband customers, according to a statement today, more than the 159,000 that four analysts estimated on average. As pay-TV operators see fewer new video customers, the industry is looking to acquisitions to get bigger and keep pace with surging broadband growth. The average monthly bill for Comcast’s video, Internet and phone subscribers rose 4.5 percent, and investors are looking for further gains if regulators approve its merger with Time Warner Cable Inc. After Comcast announced the $45.2 billion deal, AT&T Inc. said it would buy satellite-TV service DirecTV for $48.5 billion. “The acquisition of Time Warner Cable will create far greater synergies than what has been publicly discussed by either company,” Todd Mitchell, an analyst at Brean Capital LLC, wrote in a research note today.
