GMA posts strong Q1 performance

MANILA, Philippines — Broadcast giant GMA Network Inc. finished the first quarter with another strong top and bottomline results, driven by political advocacies and advertisements for this year’s national and local elections.

GMA recorded a net income of P2.13 billion during the quarter, five percent higher than the P2.02 billion recorded in the same period last year.

EBITDA jumped by  six percent year-on-year to P3.22 billion, buoyed by the growth in the top line, which was met with a lower increase in cash operating expenses.

With this year’s national and local election activities in full swing, GMA’s first quarter consolidated revenues rose by seven percent to P5.86 billion from last year’s P5.46 billion.

GMA said all airtime-revenue generating platforms outperformed prior year’s recorded sales.

Advertising revenues, which grew by nine percent year-on-year to P5.53 billion in the first quarter, remained the lifeblood of the company, with a 94 percent share of the total consolidated revenue pie.

Political advocacies and advertisements contributed more than P1 billion during the quarter in review.

“Election-related placements played a vital role in this year’s revenue upswing, especially as the network has become the most widely viewed free-to-air broadcast media with the most extensive reach across the nation,” GMA said.

Sale of services, which was mainly composed of subscription revenues from GMA’s international channels such as GMA Pinoy TV and Life TV, as well as revenues from subsidiaries’ operations, posted a revenue growth of eight percent to P241 million during the period.

Meanwhile, sale of set-top box Affordabox and digital TV mobile receivers GMA Now stood at P92.53 million, down 37 percent year-on-year.

Total units sold for GMA Affordabox since it was launched in mid-2020 has reached close to two million units.