ABS-CBN earnings dip in H1

The profit of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. fell by 45 percent in the first half.

This was due mainly to the higher base last year brought about by the one-time gain from the sale of a stake in subsidiary SkyCable to a Singaporean media group.

ABS-CBN, however, remains well on track to beating its target net income of P1.3 billion for 2012, as officials see signs of a recovery in the growth of advertising spending toward the end of the year.

ABS-CBN ended the first half with a profit of P927 million, down from P1.67 billion last year.

Excluding nonrecurring gains from the sale of Philippine depository receipts (PDRs) in SkyCable last year, ABS-CBN’s 2011 first-half profit was just about P1 billion.

“We are sticking to our P1.3-billion net income guidance for the year, and we may be able to beat it,” ABS-CBN chief financial officer Rolando Valdueza said.

He said that starting August, the company had seen a double-digit growth rate in advertising revenue. “If we are able to sustain this performance until the end of the year, we can beat our targets,” he said.

ABS-CBN’s revenues hit P15.3 billion, up 9 percent from last year. About 60 percent of this was from traditional advertising on its TV channels, while the rest came from consumer sales, such as subscriptions to ABS-CBN’s international channels.

The rise in the company’s revenue, however, was more than offset by the 12-percent rise in the company’s expenses. This was due mainly by the increase in production costs.