ABS-CBN H1 income down 41%
Media giant ABS-CBN Corp. ended the first semester of 2018 with lower profits as its major business segments slowed down while costs increased.
ABS-CBN ended the six-month period with a net income of P741 million, down 41 percent compared to the same period last year, a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange showed.
Total revenues from January to June 2018 were down 2.1 percent to P18.94 billion.
The company’s advertising revenues slid lower by 3.1 percent.
Consumer sales, which include earnings from SkyCable and ABS-CBN’s film division, also dropped 1.1 percent.
The company also increased capital spending and acquiring program rights.
Capital spending in the first half of 2018 hit P3.7 billion, higher by 8.8 percent.
ABS-CBN said advertising revenues still accounted for 51 percent of the total while consumer sales accounted for 49 percent.
This was the same when compared to a year ago.
The company explained in its quarterly filing that it saw fewer TV ad placements during the first half of the year.
It also saw lower theatrical receipts from its global business as well as ABS-CBN films.
SkyCable’s revenues during the period hit P160 million, down 3.6 percent, as it lost some 80,000 cable subscribers.
The company noted that total subscribers increased by 168,000, mainly due to its direct-to-home subscribers.
Alongside a decline in revenue was a 4-percent increase in costs and expenses to P18.5 billion.
This was mainly led by an 8.9-percent increase in production costs. Cost of sales and services, meanwhile, was lower by 2.1 percent.
ABS-CBN said it was able to cut facilities and programming related expenses. However, it also spent more as it ramped up selling activities of its ABS-CBN TVPlus boxes.
The company said sales of TVPlus went up 20.2 percent to 1.1 million units during the period.
ABS-CBN reported revenues from other business segments. KidZania, a mini theme park in Bonifacio Global City, generated P231 million in revenues from 155,000 visitors during the period. Its live events division saw revenues of P531 million.
ABS-CBN, last month, pulled the plug on its mobile venture with Globe Telecom after a five-year run. It called the business “financially unsustainable,” adding that it was working with the National Telecommunications Commission on a final date to shut down the service.
