PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 29, 2021-- Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) today reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

“We are off to a great start in 2021. Our entire company performed well across the board, highlighted by another strong performance from cable, which posted its third consecutive quarter of double-digit Adjusted EBITDA growth, while adding the most quarterly customer relationships in our company’s history. Outside of cable, I was also very pleased by the persistent recovery and increasing momentum at NBCUniversal and Sky. Our theme parks once again reached breakeven, excluding Universal Beijing Resort pre-opening costs; and – to the delight of our guests – we successfully re-opened Universal Studios Hollywood on April 16th. At Sky, customer relationship additions increased by 221,000, marking the best first quarter result in six years despite the lockdowns imposed throughout Europe. Across all parts of the company, our teams are executing at a high level and collaborating to drive growth and innovation, and I couldn’t be more excited about our future," commented Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation.

For additional detail on segment revenue and expenses, customer metrics, capital expenditures, and free cash flow, please refer to the trending schedules on Comcast’s Investor Relations website at www.cmcsa.com.

1st Quarter 2021 Highlights:

• Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Increased 3.5%; Adjusted EPS Increased 7.0% to $0.76; Generated Free Cash Flow of $5.3 Billion
• Total Customer Relationships Across Cable Communications and Sky Increased 3.3% Year-Over-Year to 56.9 Million, Including Net Additions of 602,000 in the Quarter
• Cable Communications Total Customer Relationship Net Additions Were 380,000, the Best First Quarter Result on Record; Total Broadband Customer Net Additions Were 461,000
• Cable Communications Adjusted EBITDA Increased 12.4% and Adjusted EBITDA per Customer Relationship Increased 7.0%
• Cable Communications’ Wireless Business Reached Breakeven for the First Time Since Launch in 2017; Total Customer Line Net Additions Were 278,000, the Best Quarterly Result on Record
• Marked the 10 Year Anniversary of Cable Communications’ Internet Essentials Program and Continued to Invest in Lift Zones, Comcast Rise, and Other Important Programs That Help Close the Digital Divide and Increase Equity in the Communities in Which We Serve
• Theme Parks Reached Breakeven for the Second Consecutive Quarter Excluding Universal Beijing Resort Pre-Opening Costs
• Peacock Has 42 Million Sign-Ups to Date Across the U.S., Benefiting from the Recent Addition of Exclusive Domestic Streaming Rights to WWE Network and The Office
• Sky Launched ‘Sky Connect’ to Provide Small Businesses in the U.K. with a Better Broadband Experience; Utilized Cable Communications’ Award-Winning Portfolio of Solutions and Services in the U.S.
• Amid Renewed Lock-Downs in Europe During the Quarter, Sky Total Customer Relationships Increased by 221,000 to 23.4 Million, the Best First Quarter Result in Six Years; Revenue Increased 10.6%, or 2.0% On a Constant Currency Basis, Led by Growth in Our U.K. Market

Consolidated Financial Results

Revenue for the first quarter of 2021 increased 2.2% to $27.2 billion. Net Income Attributable to Comcast increased 55.1% to $3.3 billion. Adjusted Net Income increased 8.1% to $3.5 billion. Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.5% to $8.4 billion.

Earnings per Share (EPS) for the first quarter of 2021 was $0.71, an increase of 54.3% compared to the first quarter of 2020. Adjusted EPS increased 7.0% to $0.76.

Capital Expenditures decreased 1.2% to $1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2021. Cable Communications’ capital expenditures increased 8.0% to $1.4 billion. NBCUniversal’s capital expenditures decreased 54.4% to $172 million. Sky's capital expenditures increased 37.6% to $271 million.

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities was $7.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021. Free Cash Flow was $5.3 billion.

Dividends paid during the first quarter of 2021 totaled $1.1 billion.

Cable Communications

Revenue for Cable Communications increased 5.9% to $15.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021, driven by increases in broadband, wireless, business services and advertising revenue, partially offset by decreases in other and voice revenue. Broadband revenue increased 12.0% due to an increase in the number of residential broadband customers and an increase in average rates. Wireless revenue increased 49.7% due to an increase in the number of customer lines and an increase in device sales. Business services revenue increased 6.1%, reflecting an increase in average rates and an increase in the number of customers receiving our services. Advertising revenue increased 10.8%, primarily reflecting higher revenue from our advanced advertising businesses and from recent acquisitions. Excluding political advertising revenue, advertising revenue increased 13.3%. Voice revenue decreased 3.1%, primarily reflecting a decrease in the number of residential voice customers. Other revenue decreased 6.7%, primarily reflecting lower revenue from our security and automation services and a decrease in certain billing and collection fees. Video revenue was consistent with the prior year period, reflecting a decrease in the number of residential video customers offset by an increase in average rates.

Total Customer Relationships increased by 380,000 to 33.5 million in the first quarter of 2021. Residential customer relationships increased by nearly 370,000 and business customer relationships increased by nearly 11,000. Total broadband customer net additions were 461,000, total video customer net losses were 491,000 and total voice customer net losses were 106,000. In addition, Cable Communications added 278,000 wireless lines in the quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA for Cable Communications increased 12.4% to $6.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021, reflecting higher revenue, partially offset by a 1.5% increase in operating expenses. Programming costs increased 5.5%, reflecting the timing of contract renewals, partially offset by a decline in the number of video subscribers. Non-programming expenses decreased 1.1%, primarily reflecting lower other expenses, advertising, marketing and promotion expenses and customer service expenses, partially offset by higher franchise and regulatory fees. Non-programming expenses per customer relationship decreased 5.9%. Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship increased 7.0%, and Adjusted EBITDA margin was 43.2% compared to 40.7% in the first quarter of 2020. Cable Communications results include Adjusted EBITDA⁶ of $6 million from our wireless business, compared to a loss of $59 million in the prior year period.

Capital Expenditures for Cable Communications increased 8.0% to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021, primarily reflecting increased investment in scalable infrastructure. Cable capital expenditures represented 8.7% of Cable revenue in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 8.5% in last year's first quarter.

NBCUniversal

Beginning in the first quarter of 2021, the operations of Peacock, which were previously reported in Corporate and Other, will now be included with NBCUniversal results and the operations of NBCUniversal will now be presented in three reportable business segments: Media, Studios and Theme Parks. Prior periods have been adjusted to reflect this presentation.

Revenue for NBCUniversal decreased 9.1% to $7.0 billion in the first quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 11.8% to $1.5 billion.

Media
Media revenue increased 3.2% to $5.0 billion in the first quarter of 2021, reflecting higher distribution revenue and other revenue, partially offset by lower advertising revenue. Distribution revenue increased 9.1%, driven by contractual rate increases, partially offset by a decline in subscribers. Other revenue increased 5.3% due to an increase in revenue from our digital properties. Advertising revenue decreased 3.4%, reflecting ratings declines, partially offset by higher pricing and sports volume, as well as advertising revenue from Peacock, which had not yet launched in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 3.7% to $1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2021, reflecting higher revenue, more than offset by higher programming and production expenses primarily driven by amortization of content at Peacock.Media results include $91 million of revenue and an Adjusted EBITDA⁶ loss of $277 million related to Peacock, compared to a loss of $59 million in the prior year period.

Studios
Studios revenue decreased 0.6% to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021, primarily reflecting lower theatrical revenue, offset by higher content licensing revenue. Theatrical revenue decreased 87.7%, primarily driven by the deferral of theatrical releases as a result of theater closures and theaters operating at reduced capacity due to COVID-19. Content licensing revenue increased 14.1%, primarily due to a new licensing agreement for content that became exclusively available for streaming on Peacock during the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased 65.7% to $497 million in the first quarter of 2021, reflecting lower revenue, more than offset by lower operating costs. The decrease in operating costs was primarily driven by lower advertising, marketing and promotion expenses, partially offset by higher programming and production expenses. The decrease in advertising, marketing and promotion expenses was primarily due to a reduced number of theatrical releases compared to the prior year period as a result of COVID-19. The higher programming and production expenses were primarily driven by costs associated with the new licensing agreement with Peacock during the quarter, partially offset by lower amortization associated with theatrical releases in the current period.

Theme Parks
Theme Parks revenue decreased 33.1% to $619 million in the first quarter of 2021, primarily due to Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan operating at limited capacity, while Universal Studios Hollywood remained closed during the quarter as a result of COVID-19. Theme Parks Adjusted EBITDA loss was $61 million in the first quarter of 2021, which included pre-opening costs related to Universal Beijing Resort.

Headquarters and Other
NBCUniversal Headquarters and Other includes overhead, personnel costs and costs associated with corporate initiatives. Headquarters and Other Adjusted EBITDA loss was $209 million compared to a loss of $221 million in the first quarter of 2020.

Eliminations
Eliminations reflect the accounting for transactions among the NBCUniversal segments. Revenue eliminations for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 were $1.0 billion compared to $492 million in 2020, and Adjusted EBITDA eliminations were $210 million compared to $6 million in 2020. The year-over-year changes were primarily driven by the licensing of content by the Studios segment to Peacock in the Media segment.

Sky

Revenue for Sky increased 10.6% to $5.0 billion in the first quarter of 2021. Excluding the impact of currency, revenue increased 2.0%, reflecting higher direct-to-consumer revenue, advertising revenue and content revenue. Direct-to-consumer revenue increased 1.8% to $4.1 billion, driven by increases in average revenue per customer relationship and customer relationships. Advertising revenue increased 3.4% to $574 million, due to higher advanced advertising revenue in the U.K. Content revenue increased 1.7% to $358 million, primarily due to higher wholesale revenue from sports programming.

Total Customer Relationships increased by 221,000 to 23.4 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Adjusted EBITDA for Sky decreased 33.9% to $364 million in the first quarter of 2021. Excluding the impact of currency, Adjusted EBITDA decreased 39.6%, reflecting higher revenue and lower other expenses driven by decreases in personnel-related costs, more than offset by higher programming and production expenses and direct network costs. The increase in programming and production expenses primarily reflects higher sports programming costs due to an increase in the number of sporting events in the current period. The increase in direct network costs was driven by higher costs associated with growth in Sky’s residential mobile and broadband businesses.

Corporate, Other and Eliminations

Corporate and Other
Corporate and Other primarily relates to corporate operations and Comcast Spectacor. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 was $89 million compared to $120 million in 2020. Corporate and Other Adjusted EBITDA loss was $281 million compared to a loss of $193 million in 2020, reflecting the impact of COVID-19 on Spectacor operations.

Eliminations
Eliminations reflect the accounting for transactions between Cable Communications, NBCUniversal, Sky and Corporate and Other. Revenue eliminations for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 were $710 million compared to $675 million in 2020, and Adjusted EBITDA eliminations were a benefit of $10 million compared to a benefit of $7 million in 2020.

Conference Call and Other Information
Comcast Corporation will host a conference call with the financial community today, April 29, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). The conference call and related materials will be broadcast live and posted on our Investor Relations website at www.cmcsa.com. Those parties interested in participating via telephone should dial (800) 263-8495 with the conference ID number 5168008. A replay of the call will be available starting at 12:00 p.m. ET on April 29, 2021, on the Investor Relations website or by telephone. To access the telephone replay, which will be available until Thursday, May 6, 2021 at midnight ET, please dial (855) 859-2056 and enter the conference ID number 5168008.

From time to time, we post information that may be of interest to investors on our website at www.cmcsa.com and on our corporate website, www.comcastcorporation.com. To automatically receive Comcast financial news by email, please visit www.cmcsa.com and subscribe to email alerts.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should consider various factors, including the risks and uncertainties we describe in the “Risk Factors” sections of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In this discussion, we sometimes refer to financial measures that are not presented according to generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (GAAP). Certain of these measures are considered “non-GAAP financial measures” under the SEC regulations; those rules require the supplemental explanations and reconciliations that are in Comcast’s Form 8-K (Quarterly Earnings Release) furnished to the SEC.

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. We are principally focused on broadband, aggregation, and streaming with over 56 million customer relationships across the United States and Europe. We deliver broadband, wireless, and video through our Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky brands; create, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks, Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News, and Sky Sports; and provide memorable experiences at Universal Parks and Resorts in the United States and Asia. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

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Source: Comcast Corporation