Cash Flow

Comcast Corp., the Philadelphia cable-television and cellular-phone company, said third-quarter operating cash flow increased 57 percent over the third quarter of 1992, from $99 million to $154 million. Revenues rose because Storer cable systems and Metrophone cellular phone properties were added last year. Had Metrophone and Storer been included for the same nine months in 1992, Comcast would have posted increases of 11 percent in revenues and 12 percent in cash flow. President Brian L. Roberts said Comcast saw "potential near-term reductions" in growth because of new federal cable regulations, but that it planned to grow by marketing other cable products.

Comcast Corp., the Philadelphia-based cable-television and cellular-phone operator, said it had cash flow of $309.3 million last year, an increase of 14 percent from 1990. Cash flow is the company's income before the subtraction of non-cash charges, interest and income taxes. Depreciation and interest expenses are usually sizable items for cable companies. Comcast did not provide a breakout for the year's fourth quarter. COMCAST CORP. (CMCSA) OTC 12 QTR. '91 12 QTR. '90 PCT. END 12/31 END 12/31 CHG. Revenue (millions)

Comcast Corp. yesterday reported a smaller-than-expected loss in its third quarter, and a significant increase in cash flow, a key barometer in the cable industry. The Philadelphia provider of cable television, cellular phone service, and TV programming said cash flow had grown 23.4 percent to $365 million for the three months ended Sept. 30. Cash flow equals earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Cable companies say cash flow is a more accurate measure of their growth than traditional earnings, because heavy depreciation and other costs from building and acquiring systems offset earnings.

Al hasn't decided yet how he's going to make a lot of money, one of his life goals. Maybe he'll invent something. As far as he knows, playing catch, running, climbing trees and doing flips won't start a cash flow. Neither will eating spinach, fruit, and pizza with everything on it. He'll continue these pursuits, however, because he enjoys them. Al, 9, likes to play a keyboard in school, and he also likes art. His latest drawing was the solar system. And he created a farm setting in a box. "Look what I did!"

The Sign War is over. Members of the Burlington County Bridge Commission, parent agency of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, said yesterday that they would not shell out the $500 to $18,000 it would take to answer the fire of the Delaware River Port Authority. The first salvo came in the spring when the port authority, the Betsy Ross Bridge's parent agency, bought the advertising rights for the Conrail bridge over Route 73 for $600 a month and paid $1,500 to have a sign painted about a quarter mile from the Tacony-Palmyra: "Next time use: the Betsy Ross Bridge.

Advertisements on urban music stations are no longer limited mostly to drugstores, beauty shops and neighborhood eateries. Mainstream businesses are beginning to see the light - and the light is green. "It's a long, continuing fight with advertisers to get them to understand that the urban audience has spending power," said Tom Taylor of the trade publication Inside Radio. "It's not about black and white. It's about green. " And in part, that's helped boost the value of urban radio stations.

Comcast Corp. lost more than $250 million last year but it says things couldn't be better. The Philadelphia-based communications company said yesterday that its fourth-quarter loss widened in 1997 to $88.4 million. The shortfall resulted mostly from a $118 million loss in investments, including part-owned Sprint PCS, a wireless telephone company. Comcast president Brian L. Roberts said in a statement that "financially and operationally, our company has never been in a stronger position.

The Universal theme park in Florida with its popular Harry Potter attraction and the high-grossing box-office blockbuster Fast and Furious 5 helped boost Comcast Corp.'s pro forma second-quarter revenue by 9.4 percent. The Philadelphia-based company lost fewer cable-TV subscribers during this year's second quarter than the last year's - 238,000 compared with 265,000 - and added more high-speed Internet customers, which has been a focus of growth for Comcast. The company added 144,000 Internet customers compared with 118,000 added in the year-ago quarter.

By John E. Sununu 'I have never been in banking. " Those words sounded pretty defensive when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner uttered them two years ago. The financial crisis had left nerves raw, and Damon Silvers, my colleague on the congressional panel watching over the federal bailout, had just referred to Geithner's supposed banking background. Silvers pushed on, suggesting, "It was a very long time ago. " The secretary was visibly irritated. "Actually never. " Silvers pressed a third time, as though Geithner were some kind of amnesiac: "Investment banking, I meant.

The latest Internal Revenue Service filing for WHYY shows that the public broadcaster overcame an earlier deficit of $3.9 million to end the last fiscal year with a $1.7 million surplus. WHYY accomplished that, according to the fiscal-year 2010 filing and the audited financial statement for the same period, by lowering expenses and increasing revenue, reversing trends from the previous year. President and chief executive officer William J. Marrazzo's base compensation continued to drop - from $506,157 for the 2009 fiscal year to $448,161 in the 2010 fiscal year.

The audit firm of Isdaner & Co. reviewed the Philadelphia Housing Authority's finances for fiscal year 2010 and found that the agency is in tip-top financial shape. Here's a look: Total assets rose to $1.1 billion, a 7 percent increase over 2009. Investments grew from $204 million to $235 million, a 15 percent increase. Net assets climbed to roughly $160 million, an 11 percent increase. Revenues reached $456 million , up from $387 million in 2009.

On Labor Day, Barbara Izquierdo, 22, will be enjoying a day off from her new job as a case manager and bilingual advocate for Philadelphia's hungry. It's an opportunity that she hardly would have imagined a year ago, when she got in an accident, lost her job, and had to go on welfare to support her two children. "This job has given me stability," she said. "I'm living proof that Way to Work actually works. " Way to Work is the name Pennsylvania gave to its version of a national, stimulus-funded welfare and subsidized-jobs program that will end Sept.

Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C. expects to see a 20.6 percent drop in revenue this year, a figure that includes a 27.7 percent fall in ad revenue, according to documents the company filed late Tuesday in its bankruptcy case. The company projects advertising and overall revenue to continue to fall through 2011, but with the decline diminishing each year. The company will still post positive end-of-year cash flow figures in all three years, according to the filing, largely because of how it accounts for about $27 million in bankruptcy expenses this year, and expected cuts in labor and benefits expenses.

PhillyCarShare Inc., a pioneering car-sharing organization, has told its 30,000 Philadelphia members that it will implement a mandatory $15-a-month fee tomorrow to simplify marketing and stabilize its cash flow. Organization members were informed of the change in an e-mail last Friday and have this week to decide whether to accept the change. "We'll see," was what the group's acting executive director, Eli Massar, said of the member response. In the last six to eight months, the nonprofit organization has reduced its fleet about 100 cars because of the weaker economy, Massar said, but maintains about 325 vehicles.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jean K. FitzSimon today scheduled a hearing Monday to consider Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C.'s motion to postpone a hearing on financing during the company's Chapter 11 reorganization for a month. The hearing had been scheduled for April 13 and 14. Philadelphia Newspapers, which owns The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, said in a filing it wanted to delay the hearing until the week of May 11 because it has been doing well enough financially to go longer without debtor-in-possession financing and because it would be in the company's best interest to avoid costly litigation over the financing.

Discovery Laboratories Inc. yesterday reported a loss of $8.54 million, or 8 cents a share, in the fourth quarter and said that if it could not raise additional capital it would likely not have sufficient cash flow and liquidity to fund business operations. The Warrington biotechnology firm said it lost $39.1 million in 2008, or 40 cents a share, compared with a loss of $40 million, or 49 cents a share, in 2007. As of Dec. 31, the company had an accumulated deficit of $327.