GMA Network spending P1.78B this year to boost operations

MANILA  -GMA Network Inc. is allocating P1.78 billion in capital expenditures this year to ramp up operations after it saw its bottom line decrease as its advertising revenues were hit and its production costs increased.

The budget will be financed internally, according to the media group’s latest financial report.

Last year, it spent P116.71 million for the analog TV station upgrade of TV-28 Iloilo. It also budgeted about P138 million for new digital terrestrial television stations at TV-15 PBCOM in Makati, TV-15 Mt. Kanlandog, TV-41 Legaspi and TV-41 Zamboanga.

The network likewise completed last year the P44.43-million German Moreno studio and equipment upgrade project. The facility is being used for the production of the entertainment group’s programs.

GMA currently operates 97 TV stations and 21 radio stations across the country. It launched its 12th regional station in Ilocos Norte last March.

The media company, which gained praise for its recent hit TV series “Maria Clara at Ibarra,” saw its net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company slump by 27 percent to P5.44 billion last year from P7.53 billion in 2021.

Total top line figures dropped by 4 percent to P21.56 billion as advertising revenues slipped by 4 percent to P20.23 billion.

General economic challenges, such as global supply chain disruptions and rising inflation, “took a toll on various industries and heavily impacted the advertising spending of the company’s major clients resulting in considerable cutbacks in their budgets,” GMA explained.

Production costs, meanwhile, rose by 25 percent to P7.48 billion last year from P5.99 billion in 2021. Most of these were spent on talent fees and production personnel costs at P3.92 billion, which showed a 21-percent growth from P3.25 billion the prior year.

As of end-December 2022, total assets stood at P24.73 billion.

The media company declared P5.35 billion worth of cash dividends, or P1.10 per share, last month.