Brian Roberts gave dealmakers only part of what they were looking for Wednesday, delivering strong operating performance, but not raising his bid for
AT&T Broadband.
So far, AT&T has rejected Comcast's proposal out of hand, though the
companies seem to be starting up some negotiations, as opposed to the recent
exchange of fax letters.
'We hope to begin a dialogue promptly with AT&T about the details of our
proposal,'' Roberts said on Comcast' second quarter earnings call with
analysts.
But he didn't budge on his offer, a stock swap initially valued at $58
billion but now worth $52 billion.
Comcast put up pretty strong numbers for the three months ended June. QVC
showed not signs of participating in the recession posting revenue growth of
nearly 14% and cash flow 24%, excluding the costs of a Japanese startup.
Adjusting for recent acquisitions, cable system revenue increased 10% $1.285
billion, while cash flow jumped 13% to $561.7 million.
The company's best news is that it is adding digital subscribers at such a
strong pace that Comcast is boosting its forecast from two million by year end
to 2.2 million. Digital penetration now exceeds 23%. - John Higgins
