ABS-CBN clears P995 M

MANILA, Philippines - The net income of Lopez-owned multimedia conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp. fell 23 percent in the first half due to the absence of election-related advertisements but the company is still committed to delivering P2 billion promised earnings this year.

ABS-CBN chief financial officer Aldrin Cerrado said yesterday that the company’s net income amounted to P995 million from January to June or P296 million lower compared to P1.29 billion in the same period last year.

The company’s net revenues, he said, slipped 4.7 percent to P16.4 billion in the first half of the year from P17.2 billion in the same period last year while cost and expenses were steady at P15.09 billion from P15.14 billion.

After taking out non-recurring election-related ads amounting to about P1.1 billion, Cerrado pointed out that the company’s net income would have increased by 44 percent compared to last year’s P693 million.

Excluding election-related advertisements, he explained that revenues for the first half would have increased three percent from P15.9 billion last year due to the strong performance of films both locally and internationally further supported by the performance of SkyCable Corp.

“During election it is different, the regular advertisers advertise more because of consumer spending. Our recurring business is doing very well,” Cerrado said.

The TV and studio business of ABS-CBN recorded a 3.6-percent rise in net income to P1.7 billion from P1.65 billion while earnings of its pay-TV business of ABS-CBN through SkyCable and Destiny Cable fell 17 percent to P122 million from P147 million.

He added that start-up business such as ABS-CBN Mobile, digital terrestrial TV, among others incurred losses amounting to P833 million or 66 percent higher compared to P502 million in the same period last year.

Revenues of the TV and studio business retreated 4.8 percent to P13 billion from P13.65 billion while revenues of its pay-TV networks grew 12.1 percent to P3.82 billion from P3.41 billion.