GMA shares fly after announcing highest cash dividend ever

GMA Network Inc.’s share price flew on Monday after announcing its largest-ever cash dividends to investors.

GMA shares closed 19.65-percent higher to P8.95 apiece. The television broadcast giant announced cash dividends of P1.35 per share minutes before the market closed on Friday.

The cash dividend translated to a yield of 18 percent, COL Financial Group said in a research note seen by the Inquirer.

“This is also the highest cash dividend that the company has declared since its listing in date in 2007,” wrote COL research analyst Frances Nicol.

GMA has yet to disclose full-year earnings but the cash dividends, payable on May 18, 2021, signaled an earnings windfall after the Duterte administration successfully shut down the core TV business of main rival ABS-CBN Corp. last year.

The dividends will be paid to shareholders on record as of April 22.

In its latest earnings report covering the third quarter of 2020, GMA said it benefited from an increase in advertising sales after ABS-CBN’s free-to-air broadcasts stopped on May 5.

The company also cut operating expenses dramatically during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The result was a profit windfall of P3.9 billion, up 79 percent, from January to September 2020.

During this period, GMA’s ad revenues grew by 2 percent to P11.47 billion as the shutdown of ABS-CBN helped offset the absence of political related advertising following an election season.

GMA also earned from the sale of digital TV devices, bringing total revenues higher by 4 percent to P12.66 billion. INQ
`