Cable-and-entertainment giant Comcast Corp. said second-quarter profit rose 23.9%, driven in part by box-office performance of the film “Fate of the Furious” and activity at its theme parks, even as its cable service, the biggest in the nation, shed video subscribers.
The company said net income attributable to its operations rose 23.9% in the second quarter, coming to 52 cents per share, compared with $2.03 billion or 41 cents a share in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 9.8% to $21.16 billion.
NBCUniversal overall revenues rose 17.3% to $8.33 billion. Filmed Entertainment revenue rose 59.6% to $2.2 billion, with revenue from current theatrical releases rising $837 million from $540 million on the strength of “Fate of the Furious,” the company’s most recently release in a long-running franchise. Revenue at NBCU’s theme-park operations rose 15.6% to $1.3 billion, due to higher attendance and more spending by customers.
Revenue at the unit’s cable networks rose 5.1%, to nearly $2.70 billion. Ad sales fell 0.9% due to ratings declines. Distribution revenues increased 8.1% due to higher rates, despite a loss of subscribers. Revenues at NBCU’s broadcast-TV unit rose 5.3% to $2.24 billion, largely due to rate increases from distributors. Ad sales dropped 1.2% due to rating shortfalls.
Revenue at Comcast’s large cable operation rose 5.5% to $13.1 billion, driven largely by increases in revenue from high-speed Internet, video and business services. Comcast said it shed 45,000 residential video customers during the period, compared with a loss of 21,000 in the year-earlier period.
