By Anjali Athavaley
REUTERS - Comcast Corp on Thursday reported quarterly profit and revenue that topped estimates as the No. 1 U.S. cable operator posted higher sales from its NBCUniversal cable channels and broadcast networks.
The Philadelphia-based company also said it will buy back $5 billion in stock during 2017 and increased its dividend by 15 percent. It also announced a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a dividend payable to shareholders in February.
Shares rose 2.2 percent to $75.05 in Thursday morning trading.
Comcast is grappling with competition from cheaper streaming options such as Netflix Inc, which last week reported strong subscriber numbers in the last quarter of 2016.
Revenue at NBCUniversal, which Comcast acquired in 2011, rose 13 percent, helped by "Thursday Night Football" and primetime shows such as "This Is Us."
In the cable business, revenue was up 7 percent as the company added 385,000 broadband subscribers and 80,000 video subscribers in the quarter. In November, Comcast made Netflix available through the cable operator's X1 set-top box.
Phil Cusick, an analyst at JPMorgan, called it a strong quarter and said video and broadband subscriber numbers were better than expected.
Comcast gave more details on the wireless service it plans to launch this year. On a conference call with investors, Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts said the service, which will run on Verizon Communication Inc's wireless network, would be bundled with other products and that the company would be measured in its rollout.
"The goal of the business is to have better bundling with some of our customers who want to save some of their bill and get a world class product," Roberts said. "If you can achieve that we'll see that the economics really work."
Net income rose 16.5 percent to $2.3 billion, or 95 cents a share, during the fourth quarter.
Excluding items, earnings were 89 cents per share. Revenue rose 9.2 percent to $21.03 billion.
Analysts expected earnings of 87 cents per share on revenue of $20.68 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Investors are close watching whether the company faces new competition if AT&T Inc's proposed $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc is approved by regulators. AT&T said on Wednesday it expects approval for the deal later this year.
(Reporting by Anjali Athavaley in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Jeffrey Benkoe)
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content