Broadcast giant GMA Network Inc. on Wednesday announced that its
net income reached P388 million in the first quarter of the year, a
strong start on the heels of a lukewarm closing for 2011.
Although the first quarter figure of this year failed to match the
P534-million net income posted in the same 2011 period, GMA chair and
chief executive Felipe L. Gozon noted the company is targeting P2.8
billion in net income for 2012, higher than the P1.7 billion net income
recorded last year.
“The bottomline to be about
P2.8 billion for 2012, higher than last year… The first quarter result,
kumbaga sa Filipino bumubuwelo o pumoposisyon pa tayo,” Gozon told
reporters during a press conference Wednesday.
“As I speak now, today is only May 16. And our gross airtime sales only
for Channel 7 is about P1 billion. That gives us the confidence to give
that projection for the rest of the year,” the GMA chief said.
He noted that “strongest revenue” is usually posted during the second and third quarters.
Gozon added that political advertisements for the 2013-midterm polls have also started coming in.
Consolidated revenues for the first three months dipped a manageable 4 percent to P3.002 billion from P3.138 billion.
Television and radio airtime revenues totaled P2.707 billion, while
revenues from subscriptions, licensing, and subsidiaries reached P295
million, up 8 percent.
Core business unit GMA
Channel 7 accounted for 90 percent of total airtime revenues; while
Channel 11, carrying the country’s No. 1 news channel GMA News TV (News
TV) increased its revenues by 7 percent under the QTV format from a year
earlier. GMA Radio, meanwhile, maintained the same top line level in
the same comparable period.
GMA International
contributed P231 million to the top line, slightly higher than a year
earlier, even with the appreciation of the Philippine peso against the
US dollar, because of improved subscriber take up.
GMA International managed a double-digit growth in subscriptions for
flagship GMA Pinoy TV (GPTV), which has almost 303,000 subscribers or
over two million viewers worldwide as of May 10. More than 117,000 of
these subscribers also subscribe to the only Filipino lifestyle channel
GMA Life TV (GLTV), which has one million viewers worldwide.
“We are fortunate that our subscriber base did not decrease. We are
seeing a very gradual, small growth in areas we are showing our
international programs,” Gozon said.
GMA News TV
International is now seen in Australia, Canada, Guam, Japan,
Madagascar, and the UAE. It will soon be available in Europe, Malaysia,
and the US.
GMA Worldwide Inc. (GWI), the
program acquisition and syndication arm of GMA, continues to penetrate
Asian and US television (TV) markets thru distribution of
Philippine-made programs dubbed in local vernaculars. The syndicated
programs, which are seen either on free or pay TV, generated more than
$280,000 in the quarter.
The Company imposed
financial discipline measures to maximize profitability for 2012’s
opening period. Total operating expenses, which were programmed within
budget, rose only by single digit to P2.046 billion from P1.989 billion
amid higher production costs aligned with continued efforts to deliver
superior programming and additional in-house produced programs in the
News TV grid.
Expenses also included increased personnel costs from expansion programs and modest take up in the company’s manpower base.
Bulk of the general and administrative expenses for the period came
from higher depreciation rate in operating the state-of-the-art
archiving software Media Asset Management System.
The Company’s debt to equity ratio is zero. With a debt-free operation,
GMA’s total equity stands at P10.216 billion as of end-March 2012. —VS, GMA News
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