ABS-CBN hikes capex to P8.3 B

Broadcasting giant ABSCBN Corp. has earmarked P8.3 billion for its capital expenditures this year, about 66 percent higher compared to the P5-billion allocation last year.

“For 2015, ABS- CBN expects to invest approximately P8.3 billion for capital expenditure and acquisition of film and program rights,” the company said in its annual report.

ABS- CBN said it intends to bankroll this year’s capital expenditures through a combination of equity as well as debt.

“This funding requirement will be financed by the proceeds of the bond issuance as well as from internally generated funds,” it added.

This year’s budget for capital expenditures is about P3.3 billion higher compared to the P4.99 billion spent by ABSCBN last year for cash capital expenditures last year.

ABS-CBN spent P2.29 billion for program rights and another P2.3 billion for the pay TV facilities of Sky Cable Corp.

The company posted flat growth in net earnings in 2014 amid a slight increase in revenues.

The net income of ABS-CBN reached P2.03 billion last year from P2.028 billion in 2013 while revenues inched up to P33.54 billion from P33.38 billion.

As the firm has been implementing cost reduction initiatives, production costs declined 5.3 percent to P10.50 billion in 2014 from the previous year’s P11.09 billion.

The firm’s total assets stood at P67.2 billion last year, up from P58.3 billion a year ago.