ABS-CBN narrows net loss

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led ABS-CBN Corp. narrowed its net loss by more than half in the first semester.

In a disclosure, ABS-CBN yesterday said its net loss dropped by 58 percent to P1.42 billion in the first half from P3.37 billion a year ago, as advertising revenues and consumer sales both improved due to election placements and new partnerships.

Revenue rose by 16 percent to P9.48 billion, while expenses dipped by one percent to P11.44 billion.

ABS-CBN said that its advertising revenues increased by nearly half to P3.29 billion from P2.23 billion. Likewise, consumer sales went up by four percent to P6.19 billion, from P5.93 billion.

Even without a broadcast franchise, the Lopez-led network said it manages to rake in revenues through expansion efforts it invested on during the pandemic. Among these, ABS-CBN secured a block time agreement with A2Z for the airing of ABS-CBN shows.

“These initiatives allowed ABS-CBN to increase its audience size and reach domestically and, in turn, these initiatives allowed the company to generate P3.3 billion in advertising revenues in the first half of 2022,” ABS-CBN said.

On the other hand, ABS-CBN said Sky Cable Corp. has yet to reinstate its direct-to-home (DTH) service following the denial of the legislative franchise.

Despite this, Sky Cable prioritized widening its broadband subscriber base and even brought in P4.1 billion for ABS-CBN in the first semester even without its DTH service.

Without a broadcast franchise, ABS-CBN was forced to consolidate its materials and align them depending on the block time deals it signed with free-to-air operators. As such, production costs declined by two percent to P3.64 billion.

In July ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak said the firm succeeded in rebalancing its finances in the aftermath of the franchise denial in 2020 that led to its exit on free TV. In turn, he expects ABS-CBN to become profitable again in the near term.

Last week ABS-CBN found its way back to free TV by entering into a P4-billion deal with Pangilinan-led TV5 Network Inc.