Comcast Corp, the largest US cable operator, posted better-than-expected first-quarter profit, driven by strong growth in its high-speed Internet and business services. Comcast's shares were up about 2 percent in pre-market trading on Monday morning after closing at $58.41 on Friday on the Nasdaq.
Comcast, which increased its stock buyback program to $10 billion last quarter, said it would now earmark $6.75 billion for 2015, higher than the $4.25 billion it had previously set aside for the year. Comcast, which abandoned its proposed $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable Inc in late April, said on Monday its total revenue rose 2.6 percent to $17.9 billion in the quarter ended March 31. Net income attributable to Comcast rose 10 percent to $2.1 billion, or 81 cents per share, from a year earlier.
Profit was 79 cents per share after excluding items such as investments and acquisition-related items. This beat analysts' estimates of 74 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company, which added video customers last quarter, said it lost 8,000 subscribers from January through March, compared to the 24,000 additions a year earlier.
Wall Street keeps a close watch on the number of new video subscribers as pay TV operators fight to keep customers amidst intense competition from streaming video services.
The number of Comcast's high-speed internet customers rose by 6.2 percent to 407,000. Revenue from that business was up about 11 percent, the highest growth rate in four years, to $3.04 billion. Business services revenue was up 21.4 percent to $1.11 billion.