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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
GMA Network Inc. on Monday said its profits in
the first five months of the year grew at a slower pace amid rising
inflation.
In a statement, the Philippines’ leading
broadcast company said its registered a net income of P879 million
for the first five months of the year, or 6 percent higher than in
the same period last year.
In the first quarter, GMA had recorded a
single-digit growth in net income compared with the double-digit
expansion last year.
The company’s gross revenues at end-May inched
up 3 percent to P4.65 billion from last year’s P4.502 billion.
TV airtime revenue posted a 2-percent increase
to P4.33 billion from P4.211 billion previously. Flagship Channel
7’s airtime revenues were up one percent from last year despite
the absence of political ads this year.
The company’s revenues from international
operations registered a 24-percent increase over last year on
account of the growth of subscriber count of GMA Pinoy TV and Life
TV to 175,000 from 140,000 last year.
Despite the slowdown, the company expects a
“better “ first half performance this year.
Excluding the effect of political ads, gross
revenue and net income would have grown by 17 percent and 61
percent, respectively.
Channel 7’s production costs and talent fees
increased by 7 percent owing to higher inflation and the
introduction of a game show in the early primetime block, which
replaced a rented program.
The said increase, however, was somewhat offset
by the decrease in production costs for QTV as in-house programs
were replaced by less expensive canned programs.
Advertising and promotions jumped 49 percent due
to higher spending for promotional activities relating to Pinoy TV
and regional operations. Research and survey expenses also surged
271 percent, while marketing and transportation expenses increased
by 71 percent and 41 percent, respectively.
In February, GMA launched its second
international channel called GMA Life TV. The new channel is
available in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the
Middle East and North African region, and in Europe.
GMA plans to distribute Life TV in all platforms
where Pinoy TV is carried. To date, Life TV is bundled with Pinoy TV
in all the territories where it has launched. Pinoy TV has 175,000
subscribers on direct-to-home cable, and IPTV systems worldwide.
The international channels are expected to hit
the 200,000-subscriber mark by the end of the year, as more
subscribers are expected to come from the new territories that have
launched GMA’s international channels this year including Hong
Kong, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
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