MANILA, Philippines—MediaQuest Holdings, the media investment arm of the Manuel V. Pangilinan group, would continue to focus on developing TV5 into a major player in the country’s broadcasting industry.
Bigger rival GMA Network Inc. has remained an attractive investment for the group, Pangilinan said, but he also shot down rumors that he has been in talks for a stake in the company.
The Pangilinan group was rumored to have renewed its interest in acquiring a majority stake in GMA. Past attempts to buy GMA from its major shareholders—the Jimenez, Duavit and Gozon families—have failed.
“We have been interested in GMA for 10 years, but there are no discussions going on,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Even with TV5 already in the group’s portfolio, Pangilinan said GMA has remained an attractive target for a possible acquisition. GMA earlier said profits likely dipped to under P2 billion in 2011, less than the P3 billion hit the year before.
This year, the company expects its net income to recover to close to P3 billion, benefitting from a recovery in corporate ad spending and the unofficial start of the election season by the fourth quarter.
“From what I gather, GMA says 2012 will be a better year for the company so they are in good shape. From what I have seen, they do not have any debt and they are profitable,” he said.
“It’s a find company by itself, whether it’s for sale or not,” Pangilinan said.
But Pangilinan said the group would not neglect its current investment in TV5, operated by Associated Broadcasting Corp. (ABC).
He said TV5 has earmarked P4 billion in capital expenditures in 2012, mainly for the completion of its new building in Mandaluyong, which would house the network’s news team.
Revenues are also expected to rise to P4 billion from a gross of P2.6 billion in 2011. TV5 president and CEO Ray C. Espinosa said the company ended 2011 with a market share of 15 percent. He said the group has made plans to grow that further, but warned that at around a market share of 17 percent, “each point gets harder and harder to get.”
Pangilinan added that “we are still focused on TV5. We will further widen its coverage, both locally and overseas.”
MediaQuest is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) employee Beneficial Trust Fund. Through MediaQuest, the PLDT group owns stakes in several other media companies, including a minority stake in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.