ROUCHELLE R. DINGLASAN, GMA NEWS May 16, 2012 5:22pm
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
