Comcast Profit Rises on Subscriber Adds

PHILADELPHIA (TheStreet) -- Comcast (CMCSA Quote) exceeded analyst targets with its third-quarter profit, although the cable giant offered no comments on its pursuit of NBC Universal.

Comcast said net income climbed to $944 million, or 33 cents a share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from year-ago earnings of $771 million, or 26 cents a share. Excluding one-time income tax benefits and financing expenses, Comcast would have earned 28 cents a share in the recent quarter.

Revenue rose 3% from a year ago to $8.8 billion, as net customer additions for the company's voice and high-speed Internet services offset a decline in video customers.

Analysts, on average, were looking for a profit of 25 cents a share on revenue of $8.85 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Total revenue-generating units rose by 4.5%, with the largest net additions coming from triple-play bundle customers and digital video subscribers.

Investors will have to wait until the company's conference call for any potential mention of its attempt to acquire a majority stake in NBC Universal from General Electric (GE Quote).

Last month, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts reiterated his company's interest in acquiring content but declined to comment specifically on talks about NBC Universal with GE.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York.

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