Comcast 4th-quarter net income jumps 18 per cent, helped by strength in broadcast, broadband

PHILADELPHIA – Comcast Corp.’s fourth-quarter net income rose 18 per cent, helped by improvements in its broadcast operations and growth in its high-speed Internet services, along with its core cable business.

The cable company released its fourth-quarter results Tuesday while announcing it’s buying the remaining 49 per cent of NBCUniversal that it didn’t already own, for $16.7 billion. It is buying the stake from General Electric years ahead of schedule.

Philadelphia-based Comcast earned $1.52 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the October-December period. That’s up from $1.29 billion, or 47 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings were 52 cents per share in the latest quarter. This figure excludes a tax-related gain and other one-time items.

Revenue rose 6 per cent to $15.94 billion from $15.04 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $16.01 billion.

Fueled by the NBCUniversal announcement, Comcast’s stock rose $2.77, or 7 per cent, to $41.74 in after-hours trading. The shares had closed up 33 cents at $38.97.