GMA H1 net income surges 116% at P2.378B

GMA Network Inc. more than doubled its net income in the first six months of the year, driven by record airtime sales due to election-related earnings.

In a briefing at its headquarters on Monday, GMA Network officials said the company's bottom line of P2.378 billion in January to June was up 116 percent P1.099 billion noted a year earlier.

Consolidated revenue in the six-month period jumped 32 percent to P8.760 billion on the back of election-related earnings.

According to the company, combined airtime sales reached a record P8.065 billion, up P1.996 billion or 33 percent year-on-year.

Excluding political ads, the company said airtime revenue grew by 10 percent.

"It definitely exceeded our expectations for the year," GMA Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon said.

"In fact, our net income for the first semester of 2016 is already higher than our bottom line for 2015 by at least P250 million," he added.

GMA recorded a P2.126 billion net income for the whole of 2015.

In the first quarter, GMA saw a 148-percent increase in net income to breach the billion-peso mark at P1.013 billion.

GMA EVP and CFO Felipe S. Yalong noted the company is maintaining its income guidance for the year.

"So far we're sticking with the P3-billion guidance," he said. — VDS, GMA News