Tagrel
04-28-2004, 08:46 AM
Original Story: Comcast drops Disney offer (http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/28/news/fortune500/comcast/index.htm?cnn=yes)
Comcast drops Disney offer
No. 1 cable operator withdraws $48 billion merger offer with media conglomerate; reports a profit.
April 28, 2004: 8:25 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Comcast Corp. said Wednesday it withdrew its $48 billion offer to acquire the Walt Disney Co. as the No. 1 U.S. cable company reported a first-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The dropping of the bid was not a surprise. The all-stock offer had been valued below Disney's current share price for some time.
But the news was enough to send shares of Comcast (CMCSA: Research, Estimates) up about 2 percent in pre-market trading on Instinet, despite the weaker than expected earnings. And it also helped send U.S. stock futures and shares of Disney lower in pre-market trading. Disney was off about 2 percent.
"We have always been disciplined in our approach to acquisitions," said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in a statement. "Being disciplined means knowing when it is time to walk away. That time is now."
Roberts put the cause for dropped offer at the feet of Disney's management, which received the backing of its board on Monday.
"It has become clear that there is no interest on the part of Disney's management and board in putting Comcast and Disney together," he added.
Comcast also said it will move forward with a previously announced $1 billion stock buyback program now that it has dropped the Disney (DIS: Research, Estimates) bid.
Earnings below forecast
Separately, Comcast reported a net profit of $65 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a loss of $297 million, or 13 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had forecast EPS of 7 cents.
The company did reaffirm its earlier earnings guidance for the rest of the year, though.
Profit at the Philadelphia-based cable operator was driven by adding lucrative high-speed Internet customers. It added 394,000 Internet subscribers in the first quarter, and 192,000 digital video customers.
Revenue rose 9.8 percent to $4.91 billion from $4.47 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue from the 2003 quarter excludes contributions from shopping channel QVC, which Comcast sold to Liberty Media in September 2003.
"We continue to make each of our services even more compelling by adding more features and applications that provide more value to our customers," Roberts said in a separate statement.
Comcast doubled its download speeds in the fourth quarter last year, partially in response to competitive pricing pressures from telephone providers.
Comcast drops Disney offer
No. 1 cable operator withdraws $48 billion merger offer with media conglomerate; reports a profit.
April 28, 2004: 8:25 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Comcast Corp. said Wednesday it withdrew its $48 billion offer to acquire the Walt Disney Co. as the No. 1 U.S. cable company reported a first-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The dropping of the bid was not a surprise. The all-stock offer had been valued below Disney's current share price for some time.
But the news was enough to send shares of Comcast (CMCSA: Research, Estimates) up about 2 percent in pre-market trading on Instinet, despite the weaker than expected earnings. And it also helped send U.S. stock futures and shares of Disney lower in pre-market trading. Disney was off about 2 percent.
"We have always been disciplined in our approach to acquisitions," said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in a statement. "Being disciplined means knowing when it is time to walk away. That time is now."
Roberts put the cause for dropped offer at the feet of Disney's management, which received the backing of its board on Monday.
"It has become clear that there is no interest on the part of Disney's management and board in putting Comcast and Disney together," he added.
Comcast also said it will move forward with a previously announced $1 billion stock buyback program now that it has dropped the Disney (DIS: Research, Estimates) bid.
Earnings below forecast
Separately, Comcast reported a net profit of $65 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a loss of $297 million, or 13 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had forecast EPS of 7 cents.
The company did reaffirm its earlier earnings guidance for the rest of the year, though.
Profit at the Philadelphia-based cable operator was driven by adding lucrative high-speed Internet customers. It added 394,000 Internet subscribers in the first quarter, and 192,000 digital video customers.
Revenue rose 9.8 percent to $4.91 billion from $4.47 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue from the 2003 quarter excludes contributions from shopping channel QVC, which Comcast sold to Liberty Media in September 2003.
"We continue to make each of our services even more compelling by adding more features and applications that provide more value to our customers," Roberts said in a separate statement.
Comcast doubled its download speeds in the fourth quarter last year, partially in response to competitive pricing pressures from telephone providers.