ABS-CBN gunning for positive cash flow

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez family-owned ABS-CBN Corp. aims to end the year with a positive cash flow after a good showing in the first quarter, and also working on turning around loss-generating Sky Cable.

Carlo Katigbak, president and CEO of the Kapamilya content creator, said in a virtual annual stockholders’ meeting on Thursday their “financial performance is on an upward trajectory” after seeing the company’s net losses decrease by 28 percent to P841.54 million.

“We remain confident that 2024 will be even a better year than last year … We hope to be finally cash flow positive by the end of 2024,” Katigbank said. A positive cash flow means the company has more money coming in rather than going out, which it can use to extinguish debts and invest for expansion, among others.

READ: ABS-CBN trims Q1 losses by 18%

ABS-CBN saw its net loss widen to P9.76 billion last year from P2.46 billion in 2022 as impairment loss soared to P9.13 billion.

Meanwhile, the listed media group said that “plans are in the works to improve Sky’s viability.” It did not elaborate.

Cable and broadband business

The cable and broadband business, to recall, racked up losses amounting to P7.08 billion last year, surging from P391 million in 2022.

“This is mainly caused by the decline in pay TV customers and the lack of capital to expand our broadband facilities,” Katigbak said.

Sky also currently has P4.5 billion in debts, of which some P2.05 billion is due within one year.

Earlier this year, the P6.75-billion sale of Sky Cable’s broadband business and other related assets to PLDT Inc. fell through after both parties agreed to terminate the deal. No official reason was disclosed by the companies.

READ: Surprise twist: Sky Cable sale to PLDT aborted

The transaction would have meant P4 billion in gross proceeds for the media company, which it previously earmarked to settle obligations and fund content creation.

Among ABS-CBN’s projects in the pipeline is “Hello, Love, Again,” a film being co-produced with GMA Network Inc. It is the sequel to “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” one of the highest-grossing local movies of all time. Katigbak said they remain open to other collaborations with GMA and other TV networks moving forward.

In April, ABS-CBN inked a content-sharing agreement with Advanced Media Broadcasting System to air the Kapamilya network’s classic television series on ALLTV. The Lopez-led company also has block time leasing deals with TV5, GMA, and A2Z.