GMA Network earnings breeze past pre-pandemic level
MANILA, Philippines — GMA Network. Inc. reported impressive earnings growth in the first half — even beating its pre-pandemic profits — as the broadcast giant continues to catch the tailwind from the shutdown of its main rival.
Net income in the January-June period grew 161% year-on-year to P3.67 billion, the company told the stock exchange on Tuesday. Figures showed GMA’s six-month bottom line exceeded the P1.34 billion net income it raked in during the same period in 2019 which, as it is, was extraordinarily high due to placements of election-related advertisements that year.
GMA said consolidated revenues jumped 57% year-on-year to P10.6 billion in the first half, with the denial of legislative franchise of its rival, ABS-CBN Corp., providing a strong tailwind to the company’s flagship channel GMA-7.
“The non-renewal of closest competitor’s free-to-air radio and televisions broadcasting franchise middle of last year also boosted the Company’s top line, owing to the shift in some advertising placements,” GMA said.
Dissecting GMA’s financial report, advertising revenues, which accounted for 93% of total top line, went up 61% year-on-year to P9.9 billion in the first half. At the same time, six-month online advertising revenues grew a bigger 74% from a year ago.
Consumer sales likewise made big contributions to total revenues. Under this segment, sale of goods in the first semester went up 236% on-year to P256.6 million, thanks to new revenue streams such as the sale of digital set-up boxes (GMA Affordabox) and digital TV mobile receivers (GMA Now). That cushioned a 14% annual slump in sale of services to P454.6 million amid weak revenues from international operations.
Operating expenses, on the other hand, went up 25% year-on-year in the first half to P1.2 billion. GMA said operations are picking up as lockdown measures ease, translating to a rise in costs. Specifically, cost of producing its TV shows shot up 22% year-on-year to P2.2 billion during the period, figures showed, with talent fees soared at a similar annual rate to P1.1 billion.
Despite the good news, shares in GMA tumbled 5.69% to close at P13.58 each on Tuesday, bucking small gains in the main index.
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