GMA income down 6%; ABS-CBN trims loss

GMA Network, Inc. on Tuesday reported a 6% decrease in third-quarter attributable net income to P2.34 billion from P2.49 billion in the same period last year, while ABS-CBN Corp. trimmed its attributable net loss to P303.09 million from a loss of P3.33 billion previously.

In a stock exchange filing, GMA said its net revenues for the quarter grew 0.85% to P5.96 billion from P5.91 billion in the same period a year ago.

Production costs for the third quarter surged to P1.20 billion from P618.37 million in the same period last year, while cost of sales dropped by 61% to P109.36 million from P280.58 million previously, bringing the company’s gross profit to P4.65 billion, down by 7% from P5 billion in the same period in 2020.

The company’s general and administrative expenses increased 5.6% to P1.50 billion in the third quarter of the year from P1.42 billion in the same period in 2020.

Meanwhile, GMA’s nine-month attributable net income grew 53.3% to P5.98 billion from P3.90 billion previously, as net revenues for the period climbed 30.8% to P16.56 billion — propelled by advertising revenues — from P12.66 billion last year.

“With GMA’s broadcasting operations currently enjoying the widest reach in the free-to-air arena, consolidated sales of the company for the past nine months breached the P16.0-billion mark, at P16,556 million,” the company said.

“Advertising revenues comprised 93% of the total revenue pie and was also the driver for the considerable improvement in the topline — both through airtime sales and through the company’s presence in the online landscape,” it added.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN managed to reduce its nine-month attributable net loss to P3.67 billion from a loss of P7.25 billion in the same period last year.

ABS-CBN’s total revenues for the January-to-September period fell 25.1% to P12.75 billion from P17.03 billion previously.

The company’s production costs for the period went down 30.2% to P5.38 billion from P7.71 billion, while cost of services fell 8.8% to P6.04 billion from P6.62 billion previously, and cost of sales dropped 94.3% to P17.87 million from P313.59 million in the same period last year, bringing its gross profit to P1.31 billion, down 45.2% from P2.39 billion last year.

ABS-CBN’s advertising revenues for the period fell by P2.1 billion, or 35.5% lower, attributable to its absence in the free-to-air advertising space following the cease-and-desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission on its broadcast operations on May 5, 2020 and the adoption of a resolution denying its franchise application by the House Committee on Legislative Franchises on July 10 of that year.

“Consumer sales [were] similarly affected by the cease-and-desist order as this prohibited the company from engaging in Sky Cable’s DTH (direct-to-home) services and distribution of TV Plus Boxes,” the company noted.

“In addition, the impact of the [coronavirus] outbreak resulted in the cessation of various ancillary operations such as Heroes Burger, Kidzania Manila and Studio XP. These unfortunate events resulted in a decrease in consumer revenues of P1.9 billion,” it added.

The company also announced on Tuesday that it was awarded $21 million in lawsuit against 21 pirate website operators.

“The court in the Southern District of Florida entered a default judgment in favor of… ABS-CBN and against 21 pirate site operators. The order includes an award of damages in excess of $1 million against each of the 21 pirate website operators,” the media company said in an e-mailed statement.

The company also said the websites associated with these “illegal operations” are streaming portals offering “free access” to its content in the United States and abroad. — Arjay L. Balinbin