Comcast loses fewest TV customers in 8 years

Free cash flow was down over 6% to $1.59 billion, but this would have been better if you consider that some of the spending was for an Orlando land purchase and USJ capital spending. For the full year, revenue from the Broadcast Television segment was stable at $8.5 billion. Comcast did lose 36,000 video customers over the entire year, but even that was “the best result in nine years”, Comcast said.

Revenue for the quarter rose 8.5% to $19.2 billion.

During the final quarter of 2015, Comcast had a net addition of 89,000 video subscribers – the best it’s done in eight years.

For the year ended December 31, 2015, revenue from the Broadcast Television segment was stable at $8.5 billion.

Comcast also added 460,000 broadband customers in the fourth quarter – also its best quarterly performance in nine years – compared to 375,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014. Numerous additions came from existing customers adding a service.

The largest USA cable operator and the No. 1 US high-speed Internet provider said on Wednesday it also raised its annual dividend by 10 percent to $1.10 per share and earmarked $5 billion in stock buybacks for 2016 as part of a $10 billion program.

Revenue for NBCUniversal increased 13.0% to $7.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $6.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Net income attributable to the company rose 2.4 percent to $2 billion, or 79 cents per share, from a year earlier.

Sales at the NBCUniversal group, which includes the NBC broadcast network, cable channels such as U.S. and MSNBC, and the Universal film studio, rose 11 percent to $7.31 billion, excluding Comcast buying control of Universal Studios Japan.

Its business services unit posted $1.3 billion in revenue, up 19 percent from a year ago.

Filmed entertainment continued to profit from its blockbuster year, increasing operating cash flow 85% to $143 million. Comcast also set an eight-year high for net broadband subscriber additions in 2015, with a total of 1.4 million. Consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015 excluding Universal Studios Japan increased 7.6%. Detwiler Fenton Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $279,000. That’s where Comcast clearly hopes its usage caps and its decision to exempt its own stream service from said caps will help keep these users captive.

The vastly improved metrics followed Time Warner Cable’s (NYSE: TWC) report that it had gained video subscribers for a full year for the first time since before the great recession. “As we enter 2016, the momentum we see across our portfolio is truly exciting”, CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement. We are executing at the highest level, investing prudently, and energized and focused on driving growth and shareholder value. The company also said that it is raising the dividend 10% to $1.10 per share on an annualized basis.

Read the company’s report here.