Olympics and Asset Sales Help Lift Comcast Profits

Aided by the sale of assets and a lift from the Summer Olympics, Comcast reported strong third-quarter growth on Friday, surpassing expectations on several crucial measures.

The nation's largest cable company said its net income rose to $2.11 billion, or 78 cents a share, compared with $908 million, or 33 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Most of the increase was attributed to the sale of wireless spectrum to Verizon and the sale of its 15.8 percent stake in A&E Television Networks. Excluding the sales, net income was $1.25 billion, or 46 cents a share, in line with analysts' estimates.

The company's overall revenues rose to $16.5 billion, beating estimates. Its core cable business lost 117,000 of 22 million video subscribers, a bit fewer than the loss forecast by analysts - and more importantly, 29 percent fewer than were lost during the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, its broadband business gained 287,000 subscribers, topping 19 million for the first time, a bit more than forecast.

Most importantly for Comcast, its average video subscriber paid more than ever for its services, topping $150 a month for the first time - more than offsetting the slight decline in total subscribers. Total revenues for video, broadband, business services and the rest of the Cable Communications business totaled at $9.97 billion, up from $9.33 billion in the same quarter last year.

Comcast's other business, NBCUniversal, which it took over last year, also posted gains in the third quarter, thanks in part to the broadcast of the Summer Olympics in July and August. So much for a projected $200 million loss on the Olylmpics; in the third quarter the company reported $120 million in profits from the Games, due in part to higher-than-expected television ratings. Overall, when other revenues and expenses are added up, NBC will break even on its coverage, Comcast's chief financial officer, Michael Ange lakis, said Friday.

The Olympics lifted NBCUniversal's broadcast television segment to a $88 million profit of the quarter; without the Games, broadcast would have reported a $32 million loss, somewhat worse than the $7 million loss in the same quarter last year. Comcast's earnings release cited two reasons for that: “higher programming costs” because NBC started some of its fall shows earlier than usual, and expenses tied to news coverage of the presidential election.

Brian Roberts, Comcast's chief executive, told investors on a conference call Friday morning that NBC was “off to a very strong start in this prime time season.” The network has been winning in the advertiser-friendly demographic of adults 18 to 49 for seven weeks.

“It's certainly early, but I believe and hope we are seeing the beginning of a turnaround at NBC,” Mr. Roberts added.

Including $1.2 billion in Olympics revenue, NBCUniversal as a whole posted $6.8 billion in reve nue, up from $5.2 billion in the same quarter last year. The cable networks segment, an umbrella for channels like Bravo and E!, showed no advertising revenue growth in the quarter, but showed slight growth overall thanks to higher per-channel subscriber fees. The film segment showed a 24 percent revenue gain, to $1.4 billion, thanks to successful theatrical releases like “Ted” and “The Bourne Legacy.”