GMA Network reports 13% rise in Q2 net income

GMA Network Inc. reported a double-digit increase in its bottom line during the second quarter of the year, driven by higher revenues during the period.

In a statement on Wednesday, GMA said its net income rose by 13 percent to P805.735 million in the second quarter, as revenue grew by 1 percent to P3.979 billion.

General and administrative expenses expanded to P1.425 billion from P1.405 billion in 2017.

In the first six months of the year, the network’s net income rose to P1.233 billion, compared with P1.552 billion in January to June of 2017.

“In spite of challenging market conditions, GMA Network was still able to breach the one billion-peso mark in terms of net income for the first half of 2018,” said Felipe Gozon, GMA Network’s chairman and CEO.

The company claimed dominance in nationwide television ratings during the first half of 2018, with an average people audience share of 41.2 percent in National Urban Television Audience Measurement or NUTAM.

“We look forward to seeing the rest of the year with better results for our company,” Gozon said.

Revenue, however, dropped 6 percent to P7.249 billion from P7.698 billion.

The broadcast industry saw a decline in major advertisements during the six-month period, leading to a 6-percent decline in consolidated revenues.

“On the other hand, these were slightly cushioned by the improvements in the Radio business which bagged sales higher by 21 percent from last year,” the company said in a separate filing submitted by Vice President Ayahl Ari Augusto Chio.

“The presence of revenues from tele-radyo Dobol B sa News TV provided the top-line boost in between periods. Lastly, Regional TV also overtook prior year’s sales, up by 13 percent for the first half of this year,” the filing read.

Other revenue sources posted a 3-percent growth at P23 million, driven by the increased subscriptions from the international channels and the net increase from the company’s subsidiaries.

“Among the subsidiaries, GMA New Media (GNMI) led the pack with the improvement in sales coming mainly from content provisioning for major companies providing video streaming services plus the growth in its digital business,” the company said.

Meanwhile, operating expenses totaled P5.573 billion in the first semester, up 1 percent from P5.543 billion. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News