ABS-CBN income dips to P1.67B

Earnings of publicly listed ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. dipped in the first half of the year due to the absence of political advertisements that boosted its year-ago performance.

In a briefing, ABS-CBN officials said the network’s consolidated net income came in at P1.67 billion for the period, down from P2.26 billion a year ago.

Stripping out one-time gains from last year’s political advertisements, however, the firm would have reported a 19-percent increase in profit in the first half.

For the first half, ABS-CBN delivered consolidated revenue of P13.9 billion from advertising and consumer sales, down by 18 percent from a year ago.

Less revenues from political advocacy and advertisement from the first six months of 2010, consolidated revenue in the first half of 2011 increased by 1 percent year on year.

ABS-CBN’s advertising revenues reached P8.8 billion, a decline of 24 percent from a year ago. Minus the revenues from political advocacy and advertisement in the first half of 2010, advertising revenue rose by 4 percent year on year, the company said.

Consumer sales for the first half of 2011 amounted to P5.1 billion, posting a 4-percent decrease from a year ago, mainly from ABS-CBN Global.

ABS-CBN Global revenue dropped by 14 percent year on year in peso terms due to the decline in subscribers and the appreciation of the peso against the US dollar.

Sky Cable continued to contribute positively with its revenue rising by 8 percent to P2.1 billion. This was driven by the 23-percent year-on-year increase in its broadband service subscriptions.

Total operating and other expenses dropped by 9 percent year on year to P10.4 billion.

Net income attributable to shareholders for the first half is at P1.7 billion, aided by a gain on sale of Sky Cable Philippine Depositary Receipts to STT Communications Ltd. of Singapore.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization hit P4 billion.