Comcast Revenues Hit $74.5 Billion in 2015

It lost its fewest video customers in nine years.

Photo | Jeff Fusco

Photo | Jeff Fusco

Another year, another big pile of money at Comcast.

The Philly-based cable and Internet giant pulled in $74.5 billion in revenues in 2015, the company reported this morning. That was a rise of 8.3 percent over the previous year, when the company had $68.7 million in revenue.

The results were aided by a strong fourth quarter: Comcast’s $19.2 billion in earnings in that period were an 8.5 percent increase over the same time a year ago. Overall, the company reported earnings per share of $3.24 — up 1.3 percent from the previous year.

CEO Brian Roberts said the company would increase its dividend by 10 percent, to $1.10 per share — and added that the company will buy back $5 billion of its own stock this year.

“I am exceptionally proud of our results this year, which were driven by strong performances in each of our core businesses,” Roberts said in a written statement accompanying the results. “As we enter 2016, the momentum we see across our portfolio is truly exciting.”

Other 2015 highlights from the report:

• Cable revenue increased 6.2 percent to $46.9 billion — from $44.1 billion in 2014 — driven by growth in high-speed Internet, business services and video. The number of Internet customers grew from under 22 million to 22.3 million; voice customers rose from 11.2 million to nearly 11.5 million. Video customers, however, declined slightly, from 22.383 million to 22.347 million customers, though Comcast touted that as the best result in that segment in nine years.

• NBCUniversal revenue increased 11.9 percent to $28.5 billion.

• Comcast’s overall rise in revenues was driven, in large part, by the stellar performance of its Universal movie studio, which saw a year-over-year rise from $5 billion to $7.3 billion — a whopping 45.5 percent increase — thanks to blockbuster films like Minions, Jurassic World and Furious 7.

Said Roberts: “We are executing at the highest level, investing prudently, and energized and focused on driving growth and shareholder value.”

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