Comcast posts revenue gain, earnings loss for Q3

Comcast today announced mixed results for third quarter 2001, as the company posted a net loss of $106.8 million, or 11¢ per diluted share--a significant drop from the $1.24 billion profit, or $1.37 per diluted share, recorded in the same quarter last year.

On the plus side, the company generated consolidated revenues of $2.36 billion for the quarter, a 20.2% increase year over year. Consolidated cash flow also increased over the year previous, to $705.8 million from $605.7, a 16.6% increase. However, Comcast’s total debt at the end of the quarter reached $12.05 billion, a 21.4% increase compared year over year.

The company’s cable division generated pro forma revenues of $1.31 billion, a 10.3% increase over the $1.19 billion posted in third quarter 2000. Operating cash flow for the cable division was $572.4 million for the quarter, a 13% increase over the $506.5 million recorded for the same quarter last year.

Net subscriber additions for the cable division during the quarter were 12,300, bringing total subscribers to 8.4 million, a scant 1% gain over the year previous.

In a statement, Comcast President Brian Roberts said the cable division was positioned well for the future thanks to an “aggressive” rebuilding effort.

“During the third quarter, we maintained our aggressive rebuild plan that will result in 95% of all of our systems being upgraded by the end of this year,” he said. “Our upgraded systems provide a strong foundation for the accelerated delivery of new digital and broadband services for consumers.”

Both categories performed well during the third quarter, with net subscriber adds for digital cable totaling 243,400. This brought total digital cable subscribers at the end of the quarter to 2.1 million, a 65% increase year over year.

The company’s high-speed Internet product posted net subscriber adds of 117,100 during the quarter, bringing total subscribers to 792,700--more than double the 367,800 subscribers Comcast had at the end of the same quarter last year.

--Glenn Bischoff, senior writer