Comcast posts revenue gains after scuttled merger

Comcast’s late battle with regulators over its thwarted merger with Time Warner Cable didn’t appear to affect its bottom line.

The nation’s largest cable company said on Monday that its total revenue rose 2.6 percent to $17.9 billion during the first three months of the year, a gain that surpassed investors’ expectations.

{mosads}Through March 31, each share of the company recorded earnings of $0.81, a 14 percent increase over the first quarter of 2014.

“We begin 2015 with great momentum and remain confident that we are well positioned with an impressive portfolio of complementary businesses to continue our strong performance and drive shareholder value,” CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement.

The proposed $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable — which was abandoned a week and a half ago due to opposition from government regulators — would have dramatically reshaped the nation’s cable and television subscription markets by combining the nation’s two largest cable companies. 

The amount of power the combined company would have had to influence both pay-TV systems and content on the Internet proved too much for regulators, who cheered Comcast’s April decision to abandon the deal.

Comcast stock rose in Morning trading on the heels of the news.