GMA Network reports Q3 net income up at P771.856 million

GMA Network Inc. registered a 5.29-percent increase in net income in the third quarter of the year, following higher revenue in July to September.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, GMA said net income reached P771.856 million in the third quarter, up from P733.029 million a year earlier.

Gross profit rose to P2.514 billion from P2.358 billion, while general and administrative expenses climbed to P1.455 billion from P1.339 billion.

"We are confident that we will be able to sustain our TV ratings leadership for the remainder of the year, as we continue to lead our competitor entering the last two months of 2017," GMA Network chairman and CEO Felipe L. Gozon said.

"After three quarters this year, GMA Network and Subsidiaries displayed resilience in sustaining its top line gains amidst some tightening seen in the industry's advertising spend," the disclosure read.
 
Net income rose to P2.324 billion in the nine months to September, down 25 percent from P3.111 billion a year earlier in the absence of election-related spending, the company noted.

Consolidated airtime sales accounted for 89 percent of revenue with P10.527 billion in the first nine months of the year, sustained by contributions from GMA 7, GMA News TV, as well as regional TV and radio.

"Airtime sales from regular advertisers yielded a P343 million or 3-percent hike from a year ago," it said.

Revenue from the subsidiaries posted a 22-percent growth year-on-year at P332.7 million, led by GMA News Media Inc.

"Among the subsidiaries, GMA News Media (GNMI) led the pack with sales from external sources increasing by 57 percent vs. 2016—mainly from content provisioning services," it said.

Top line growth was also recorded by GMA Records, Media Merge, and Digify.

"Finally, inflows from the digital business (on-line advertising in GMA's various websites) started to pick up, thus further amplifying this period's growth," the company said. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News