Broadcasting and cable major Comcast announced its revenue, EBITDA and net income for the fourth quarter of 2018.
Comcast said its revenue rose 26.1 percent to $27.8 billion, net income fell 83.3 percent to $2.5 billion and Adjusted EBITDA grew 21.6 percent to $8.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Comcast’s revenue grew 11.1 percent to $94.5 billion, net income fell 48.4 percent to $11.7 billion and Adjusted EBITDA increased 7.9 percent to $30.2 billion in the twelve months ended December 31, 2018.
Philadelphia-based company said it lost 29,000 video customers in the quarter, smaller than the 33,000 lost last year.
Comcast reported 20 percent drop in customer additions to 164,000 in the fourth quarter, but 34.1 percent increase for the full year.
Revenue from the video segment fell 1.6 percent to $5.58 billion, as US subscribers dump pricier pay-TV services in favor of cheaper streaming services such as Netflix.
NBCUniversal, which will launch a streaming service in early 2020, reported a 7.1 percent rise in revenue to $9.40 billion.
Revenue from Comcast’s high-speed internet business increased 10.1 percent to $4.40 billion as the company added 351,000 net subscribers, up from 350,000 a year earlier.
Comcast, which beat Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox in an auction for Sky, said revenue reported from the British pay TV group was $4.59 billion.
Xfinity Mobile business, which operates off of Verizon Communications’ network, added 227,000 phone lines during the quarter, up from 187,000 a year earlier.
Brian L. Roberts, chief executive officer of Comcast, said: Comcast Cable’s customer relationship growth accelerated, driven by our 13th consecutive year of over 1 million broadband net additions.”
Capital expenditures increased 16.8 percent to $3.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. Cable Communications’ capital expenditures rose 7.6 percent to $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, reflecting higher spending on infrastructure, customer premise equipment and line extensions.
Sky had capital expenditures of $222 million.
Revenue for Cable Communications increased 5.2 percent to $14.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, driven by increases in high-speed internet, advertising, business services and other revenue, partially offset by a decrease in video revenue.
High-speed internet revenue increased 10.1 percent, driven by an increase in the number of residential high-speed internet customers and rate adjustments. Advertising revenue increased 27.7 percent, primarily reflecting an increase in political advertising revenue.
Video revenue decreased 1.6 percent, primarily reflecting a decrease in the number of residential video customers. Voice revenue decreased 3 percent, primarily due to a decrease in the number of residential voice customers.
