ABS-CBN, GMA Network post strong H1 earnings

Media and entertainment giants ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network Inc. reported higher earnings in the first half as political placements boosted advertising revenues.

ABS-CBN saw its net income attributable to parent equity holder rise 83 percent to P1.55 billion in the January to June period from P849.88 million during the same period last year.

The network generated consolidated revenues of P20.8 billion from advertising and consumer sales, 9.8 percent higher year-on-year.

ABS-CBN said advertising revenues grew by 17.8 percent to P11.8 billion, attributed to both political placements and growth in regular advertising.

“Excluding political placements, regular advertising increased by P303 million 3.2 percent yearon-year,” ABS-CBN said.

Consumer sales also improved by 1.7 percent to P9.52 billion due mainly from higher TVPlus Boxes sold, theatrical receipts from ABS-CBN Films, and higher subscription revenues from Sky Cable.

ABS-CBN’s revenue mix in the first half was 54 percent advertising revenues and 46 percent consumer sales.

Meanwhile, GMA posted a 10 percent jump in its earnings in the first half to P1.34 billion from P1.22 billion in the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues went up by seven percent year-on-year to P7.91 billion with political advocacies and advertisements during the six-month period propelling the upswing.

“Main driver for the top-line growth was the presence of political advocacies and advertisements aggregating to about three-fourths of a billion pesos until May this year,” GMA said. –