This article is more than 1 year old

Fat cable bods Comcast belch contentedly, stroke bulging broadband belly

We're doing fine without spending $45bn on TWC

Broadband sales boosted profits at US cable goliath Comcast by nine per cent to $3.9bn (£2.6bn) for the company's first quarter, compared with the same period last year.

Overall sales rose 2.6 per cent to $17.9bn (£11.7bn), with revenue at the company's Cable Communications biz rising 6.3 per cent to $11.4bn (£7.5bn). Comcast also owns picture studios NBC Universal.

Last month Comcast had to throw in the towel over talks to acquire its largest rival Time Warner Cable (TWC) for $45bn (£30bn), following opposition from US government watchdogs and other telcos.

The TWC deal would have given Comcast greater access to the New York and Los Angeles market and ultimately created a company with the most broadband and video subscribers in the US alongside the ownership of significant programming interests.

Brian Roberts, chief executive of Comcast, said the company had been "excited" about the deal but "the government ultimately didn’t see it the same way," he said in Comcast's earnings call.

Indeed it didn't. Eric Holder, US Attorney General, said the collapsed merger talks were a "victory" for providers of content and streaming services.

Comcast incurred $99m (£65m) in costs related to the TWC deal in its first quarter of 2015.

Neil Smit, chief executive of Comcast Cable said the company is now working with other cable operators to reach more markets.

He said: "In the wireless space, we’ve been spending a bit building out our Wi-Fi network." Smit hinted that future acquisitions could be on the cards: "[W]e feel that Wi-Fi [is] a very strong and powerful assets that we will be looking into the best way to leverage going forward."

High speed internet sales rose 10.7 per cent; the strongest rate of growth in more than four years, said the company. ®

More about

More about

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like