Comcast Corp. today reported results for the fourth quarter of 2015 and the full year. Revenue from its Broadcast Television segment increased 7% to $2.5 billion compared to $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, reflecting a 7% increase in advertising revenue, primarily driven by higher rates, a 34.9% increase in content licensing revenue, and higher retransmission consent fees.
Operating cash flow decreased 5.6% to $217 million compared to $230 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, reflecting higher revenue, more than offset by higher operating costs and expenses.
For the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, revenue from the Broadcast Television segment was stable at $8.5 billion. Excluding $376 million of revenue generated by the NFL’s Super Bowl in the first quarter of 2015, as well as $846 million of revenue generated by the 2014 Sochi Olympics, revenue increased 6.0%, reflecting a 13.7% increase in content licensing revenue, a 4.1% increase in advertising revenue, and higher retransmission consent fees.
Operating cash flow increased 6.3% to $780 million compared to $734 million in 2014.
Revenue for the Cable Communications segment increased 5.9% to $12.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $11.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, driven by increases of 9.8% in high-speed Internet, 4.4% in video and 18.9% in business services, partially offset by a 9.3% decline in advertising due to lower political advertising revenue. The increase in cable revenue reflects increased customer relationships, customers receiving higher levels of service, customers taking additional services, as well as rate adjustments.
For the full year, cable revenue increased 6.2% to $46.9 billion compared to $44.1 billion in 2014, driven by growth in high-speed Internet, business services and video.
Revenue for NBCUniversal increased 13.0% to $7.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $6.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014. Operating cash flow increased 8.7% to $1.6 billion compared to $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014. Fourth quarter results include $169 million of revenue and $80 million of operating cash flow attributable to Universal Studios Japan from its acquisition date.
For the year, NBCUniversal revenue increased 11.9% to $28.5 billion compared to $25.4 billion in 2014. Operating cash flow increased 14.8% to $6.4 billion compared to $5.6 billion in 2014.
For Comcast as a whole, consolidated revenue increased 8.5% to $19.2 billion. Consolidated operating cash flow increased 6.7% to $6.3 billion. Consolidated operating income increased 5.7% to $4 billion. On November 13, 2015, Comcast acquired a 51% interest in the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, Japan. Fourth quarter and full-year 2015 results include $169 million of revenue and $80 million of operating cash flow attributable to Universal Studios Japan from its acquisition date.
For the full year, consolidated revenue increased 8.3% to $74.5 billion. Consolidated operating cash flow increased 7.7% to $24.7 billion. Consolidated operating income increased 7.3% to $16.0 billion.
Brian L. Roberts, Chairman-CEO of Comcast Corp., said: “I am exceptionally proud of our results this year, which were driven by strong performances in each of our core businesses. At Comcast Cable, our focus on delivering the most innovative products and improving the customer experience led to fantastic operating metrics, including our best video customer results in nine years, and our best high-speed Internet customer results in eight years. NBCUniversal had a remarkable year, with record-breaking results at both Theme Parks and Film, and continued success at NBC, which was number one in primetime for the second consecutive season. As we enter 2016, the momentum we see across our portfolio is truly exciting. We are executing at the highest level, investing prudently, and energized and focused on driving growth and shareholder value. Underscoring our confidence in our company, we are increasing our dividend by 10% to $1.10 per share and we also plan to repurchase $5.0 billion of our stock this year.”
Read the company’s report here.
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