Comcast 2008 Annual Report Download - page 63

Deferred Compensation Plans
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2008 2007 2006
Benefit obligation $797 $672 $554
Interest expense $76 $65 $50
Split Dollar Life Insurance
We also have collateral assignment split-dollar life insurance agree-
ments with select key employees that require us to bear certain
insurance-related costs. Under some of these agreements, our
obligation to provide benefits to the employees extends beyond
retirement.
On January 1, 2008, in connection with the adoption of EITF
06-10, we adjusted beginning retained earnings and recorded a
liability of $132 million for the present value of the postretirement
benefit obligation related to our split-dollar life insurance agree-
ments (see Note 3). As of December 31, 2008, this benefit
obligation was $145 million. The related expenses were $24 million
for the year ended December 31, 2008.
Retirement Investment Plans
We sponsor several 401(k) retirement plans that allow eligible
employees to contribute a portion of their compensation through
payroll deductions in accordance with specified guidelines. We
match a percentage of the employees’ contributions up to certain
limits. For the years ended December 31, 2008, 2007 and 2006,
expenses related to these plans amounted to $178 million, $150
million and $125 million, respectively.
Note 11: Stockholders’ Equity
Common Stock
In the aggregate, holders of our Class A common stock have
66
2
⁄ 3 % of the voting power of our common stock and holders of
our Class B common stock have 331/3% of the voting power of
our common stock. Our Class A Special common stock is gen-
erally nonvoting. Each share of our Class B common stock is
entitled to 15 votes. The number of votes held by each share of
our Class A common stock depends on the number of shares of
Class A and Class B common stock outstanding at any given time.
The 331/3% aggregate voting power of our Class B common stock
cannot be diluted by additional issuances of any other class of
common stock. Our Class B common stock is convertible, share
for share, into Class A or Class A Special common stock, subject
to certain restrictions.
Share Repurchase and Dividends
In 2007, our Board of Directors authorized a $7 billion addition to
our existing share repurchase authorization. Under this author-
ization, we may repurchase shares in the open market or in private
transactions, subject to market conditions. As of December 31,
2008, we had approximately $4.1 billion of availability remaining
under our share repurchase authorization. We have previously
indicated our plan to fully use our remaining share repurchase
authorization by the end of 2009, subject to market conditions.
However, due to difficult economic conditions and instability in the
capital markets, it is unlikely we will complete our share repurchase
authorization by the end of 2009 as previously planned. The table
below shows our aggregate repurchases during 2008, 2007 and
2006.
Share Repurchases
(in millions) 2008 2007 2006
Aggregate consideration $2,800 $3,102 $2,347
Shares repurchased 141 133 113
Our Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.0625 per share
for each quarter in 2008, totaling approximately $727 million, of
which approximately $547 million was paid in 2008. We expect to
continue to pay quarterly dividends, though each subsequent divi-
dend is subject to approval by our Board of Directors. We did not
declare or pay any cash dividends in 2007 or 2006.
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
The table below presents our accumulated other comprehensive
income (loss), net of taxes.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2008 2007
Unrealized gains (losses) on marketable
securities $19 $27
Unrealized gains (losses) on cash flow hedges (97) (110)
Unrealized gains (losses) on employee benefit
obligations (31) 24
Cumulative translation adjustments (4) 3
Accumulated other comprehensive income
(loss) $ (113) $ (56)
Unrealized losses on cash flow hedges in the table above relate to
our interest rate lock agreements entered into to fix the interest
rates of certain of our debt obligations in advance of their issu-
ance. Unless we retire this debt early, these unrealized losses as of
December 31, 2008 will be reclassified as an adjustment to inter-
est expense over 9 years, the same period over which the related
interest costs are recognized in earnings.
61 Comcast 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K