GMA Network posts 14% hike in revenue to P3.5B last year

GMA Network Inc. senior vice-president for finance Philip Yalong has belied recent newspaper reports suggesting that the company’s valuation was diminished by losses in 2001.

"Nothing could be farther from the truth," Yalong said, adding "GMA’s numbers are, in fact, very healthy, with gross revenue hitting P3.5 billion in 2001, an increase of some P400 million or 14 percent over the previous year’s numbers. At the same time, the company’s operating expenses have been kept at very manageable levels, with only eight percent increase from 2000’s numbers."

Yalong said the excellent numbers posted by GMA, the second largest media network in the country, were spurred by the ratings not only of its news-and-public affairs programs, which have been consistently strong, but also of its entertainment portfolio. He cited in particular the soap operas that were introduced over the past few months, which have performed incredibly well and dramatically increased GMA’s audience shares.

Despite the recent development in the company, Yalong maintained that GMA remains focused on reclaiming the top slot that the company occupied in the industry in the 1980s.

He was referring to the recent management shakeup that, he said, was blown well out of proportion in some media reports. "Some made it out to be an offshoot of a family feud where there was none," Yalong said, noting that the recent changes in the composition of the company’s marketing and programming departments were unanimously approved by board directors Felipe L. Gozon and Joel Jimenez representing two of the three families behind the media giant.

"GMA chairman/president and CEO Felipe L. Gozon is confident that this goal to make GMA No. 1 in the broadcasting industry is achievable," Yalong said, "and with the numbers that the company has been doing under his very focused pro-active leadership, I don’t see any reason to believe otherwise.

Yalong called attention to the following facts:

• GMA Network Inc.’s gross revenue reached P3.5 billion in 2001, an increase of some P400 million or 14 percent over the revenue in 2000.

• Operating expenses in 2001 amounted to P2.06 billion, a mere eight percent increase from the P1.91 billion in 2000.

• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is at P1.31 billion, and 11 percent increase from the P1.18 billion in 2000.

• GMA registered a net income of P304 million in 2001, an increase of 45 percent from 2000’s of P209 million.

According to GMA Network chief Gozon, the majority stockholders of GMA Network have no immediate plans of selling a stake of the company especially at this time when the company has become very profitable.

"GMA is financially healthier now than before. It has registered substantial increases in assets, gross sales, operations income, EBITDA, and net income. On top of these, GMA was able to reduce its indebtedness," Gozon said. "We are happy over our company’s performance and we are confident that we can achieve the goals we have set for the company," he added.