While Comcast reported large subscriber losses for its broadband services and diminished growth surrounding its Peacock direct-to-consumer product, the media conglomerate still topped fourth-quarter estimates set by Wall Street in its latest earnings report. The company generated $31.92 billion in revenue on $8.81 billion in adjusted EBITDA, the latter of which is up 9.9% year-over-year. Earnings per share moved to $0.96, indicative of a 13.9% year-over-year increase, while the company generated significant free cash flow with $3.26 billion in that category. Comcast returned $3.2 billion to its shareholders through a combination of dividend payments and share repurchases, contributing to a reduction of shares outstanding by 5% on the year.
The company augmented its dividend to $0.08, indicative of a 6.5% increase from the last fiscal year. As a result, the enterprise set a new annualized rate at $1.32 per share for the new year, marking the 17th consecutive year of increasing its dividend. The Comcast Board of Directors has also approved a share repurchasing program that takes effect on Friday, which authorizes the repurchase of up to $15 billion in shares.
“We had the best financial performance in our company’s 60-year history with record revenue, EBITDA and EPS along with significant free cash flow,” Brian L. Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer of Comcast Corporation, said in a statement. “Driving these results were the many accomplishments our teams have made across our six growth businesses, including 5% connectivity revenue growth in an intensely competitive environment, another 1.2 million mobile line additions, and a 5% increase in revenue for Business Services.
“We also had strong performance from our Studios, where we ranked #2 in worldwide box office, and at Peacock, where we delivered revenue growth of 46%, fueled by a diverse slate of sports and entertainment content, including the incredibly successful Paris Olympics.”
Comcast registered a loss of 31,842 video subscribers as its cable television business continues to shrink. The company recently introduced a new sports and news video bundle with Xfinity that grants users access to broadcast, cable news and sports channels, along with access to the Peacock streaming service. As it pertains to Peacock, revenue related to the platform increased 28% to $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter. Adjusted EBITDA losses improved by about $1 billion in the full year as revenue in this space moved to $4.9 billion. The platform broadcast an exclusive live-streamed NFL playoff game in January, helping contribute to the most-watched year for NBC Sports since 2016.
Media revenue registered gains attributed to higher domestic distribution revenue, which was up 5% on the quarter year-over-year to $2.89 billion. There was higher revenue recorded related to the distribution of sports networks as the company continues to move RSNs to higher-priced tiers, a stance that resulted in a three-month outage of Main Street Sports Group networks. The company also introduced its intent to create a publicly-traded company containing cable television networks and complimentary digital assets with an intent to become a substantive entity in approximately one year from its November announcement.
As a whole, the media subcategory generated the most remuneration in the content and experiences field to lead the concentration to $12.1 billion in revenue. Media also collected $298 million in adjusted EBITDA on the quarter, a 175.2% year-over-year increase driven by consistent programming and production costs with lower marketing and promotion expenses. Yet these were offset by higher expenses in other categories said to be related to severance on the quarter. The NBC Sports division will continue its broadcasts of various sports properties in the new fiscal year, including the NFL and Big Ten Conference, along with adding the NBA to its portfolio in the fall.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
