ABS-CBN’s losses narrow to P4.37B in 2024

ABS-CBN network headquarters in Quezon City (Photo by Maria TAN / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines – ABS-CBN Corp. narrowed its net losses by 55 percent last year as production costs and other expenses went down after laying off about 100 employees.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, the Lopez family-led media group reported that its net losses retreated to P4.37 billion last year from P9.76 billion in 2023.

Content and production and distribution revenues climbed by 6 percent to P11.94 billion.

READ: ABS-CBN selling big chunk of HQ to Ayala Land 

In particular, income from film exhibitions grew by over fivefold to P706.68 million last year from just P133.67 million in 2023.

“Hello, Love, Again,” a movie coproduced by ABS-CBN with GMA Pictures, earned over P1 billion in ticket sales last year. This makes it the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time.

In its music and talent division, ABS-CBN said the “key revenue drivers were the mounting of numerous events, both domestic and overseas, such as the sold-out concerts of the breakthrough group BINI and ASAP California.”

Advertising revenues were flat at P6.7 billion.

Overall, the top line figures decreased by 6 percent to P17.33 billion for the period.

This was mainly due to a 25-percent decrease in cable TV and broadband revenues. ABS-CBN attributed this to a “decline in subscribers.”

ABS-CBN’s Sky Cable Corp. entered in a partnership with Converge ICT Solutions Inc. last year, allowing Sky subscribers to tap into the latter’s fiber network.

The internet service provider founded by tech tycoon Dennis Uy is working on moving to their network the 300,000 Sky Cable customers this year.

Production costs went down by 4 percent to P7.1 billion last year. This was due to lower personnel expenses and talent fees, travel and transportation spending and catering and food expenses, among others.

General and administrative expenses fell by 36 percent to P10.41 billion last year from P16.3 billion in 2023.

Last year, ABS-CBN retrenched about 3 percent of its workforce amid its financial struggles due to declining ad revenues. INQ