Absence of political ads drags down ABS-CBN income in 1st half

MANILA, Philippines – The absence of political advertisements has dragged down the net income of ABS-CBN Corporation to P1.2 billion in the 1st half of 2017, from P2.1 billion in the same period last year.

The Lopez-led media and entertainment company saw consolidated revenues at P19.3 billion for the first 6 months of 2017.

“There are a couple of big [ad] spenders last year who cut down their spending this year. But we are optimistic the 2nd half will be better because you have to take into account the holiday season,” ABS-CBN chief financial officer Aldrin Cerrado said on the sidelines of a briefing in Makati City on Friday, August 11.

Although it would be “very challenging,” Cerrado said ABS-CBN remains hopeful that the company will hit its profit guidance of P3 billion for 2017.

ABS-CBN group ended the 1st half of 2017 with 3.2 million ABS-CBN TVplus digital TV boxes sold since the service was launched in 2015.

“Our progress with the DTT initiative has also been evident in its ratings performance. Cinemo and Yey! channels have more than doubled their audience shares to 2% and 1%, respectively, compared to the same period last year,” Cerrado said.

Its unit, Star Cinema, generated over P1.2 billion in revenues during the 1st half of the year.

“We are also pleased with the financial and operating results of our subsidiaries during the 1st half of the year. Sky’s revenue grew by 9% to P4.6 billion driven by the continued increase in our broadband and DTH subscribers,” ABS-CBN group chief finance officer Ron Valdueza said.

As of end June 2017, SkyCable had over one million subscribers. 

Kidzania, the company’s educational theme park, welcomed over 148,000 visitors since the beginning of the year, and is expected to do even better in the 2nd half of 2017. 

As of end June 2017, total assets and equity stood at P72.2 billion and P32 billion, respectively.

Cerrado said ABS-CBN expects capital spending budget to be “lower than P7 billion,” from an earlier projection of P8 billion. – Rappler.com