MEDIA GIANT ABS-CBN Corp. on Wednesday reported its earnings grew by 4.65% in the third quarter, as advertising revenues continued to increase.
In a regulatory filing, the Lopez-led company said its attributable net income stood at P813.3 million in the third quarter, versus P776.9 million in the same period last year. This was driven by the 6% increase in revenues to P11.22 billion.
For the first nine months of the year, ABS-CBN’s attributable net income soared 45% to P2.36 billion, on the back of an 8.6% rise in revenues to P32 billion.
The bulk of revenues came from advertising revenues, which went up 15% to P17.11 billion.
“Excluding political placements, regular advertising increased by P828 million or 5.6% higher year-on-year,” the media giant said.
Consumer sales inched up 2.1% to P14.9 billion during the nine-month period, which ABS-CBN attributed to higher sales of TVPlus Boxes and increased subscription revenues from Sky Cable.
ABS-CBN said its costs and expenses jumped 2.8% to P29 billion. It noted that production costs rose by 4.7% due to “costs related to original Iwant produced content and election expenses amounting to P249 million and P68 million, respectively.”
By business segment, ABS-CBN said its media and studio entertainment business generated a net income of P2.83 billion on P23.28 billion in operating revenues as of end-September.
Cable, satellite and broadband business reduced its losses to P6 million from P182 million, as Sky’s revenues went up 7.4% due to the increase in broadband and direct-to-home subscribers.
However, losses from its digital and interactive media unit expanded to P393 million from P380 million a year ago, while losses from its consumer product and experiences segment increased to P170 million as of end-September, from P119 million.
ABS-CBN is still awaiting the renewal of its legislative franchise, which expires by end-March 2020. A bill has been filed at the House of Representatives.
Shares in ABS-CBN were unchanged at P18 each on Wednesday.
https://www.bworldonline.com/abs-cbn-earnings-rise-5-in-3rd-quarter/
