InternetComcast profit up on phone, Internet gains (Reuters)

Reuters - Comcast Corp, the largest U.S. cable service provider, posted a higher quarterly profit as it gained market share in telephone and Internet services and controlled expenses, sending shares up 3 percent.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Comcast Corp, the largest U.S. cable service provider, posted a higher quarterly profit as it gained market share in telephone and Internet services and controlled expenses, sending shares up 3 percent. Comcast reported a tripling of its free cash flow -- a measurement of net cash the company prefers -- largely due to a drop in capital expenditure, as a slowdown in U.S. homebuilding meant that it spent less expanding its cable systems to new communities. While the slowdown contributed to weaker video subscriber growth, analysts said Comcast was winning market share from phone competitors including AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc. "Free cash flow was better than we expected and that was partly due to the fewer customer adds, so they didn't incur costs of adding new subscribers," said Tom Eagan, analyst at Collins Stewart. Free cash flow is a closely watched metric by U.S. cable investors, who are concerned that cable companies may be overburdened by capital costs in building out new cable lines. Comcast's second-quarter free cash flow jumped 216 percent to $1.163 billion. "Investors are likely reacting to the big outperformance in free cash flow growth," said Robin Diedrich, analyst at Edward Jones. Shares in Comcast rose 58 cents to $19.76 on Nasdaq. Shares of competitors also gained, with Time Warner Cable Inc... [ Read more on www.yahoo.com ]

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