ABS-CBN Corp. said net income rose 31 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, on lower operating expenses.
The media and entertainment company led by the Lopez family reported a net profit of P411 million in January to March, up from P314 million in the same period last year.
Consolidated revenues fell 5.9 percent in the three-month period to P9.01 billion from P9.58 billion a year ago. Advertising revenues went down by 10.2 percent to P4.35 billion, while consumer sales dropped 1.5 percent to P4.67 billion.
ABS-CBN’s direct costs and expenses declined 4.3 percent in the first quarter to P8.77 billion from the previous year’s P9.17 billion. Production costs dropped to P3.08 billion from P3.11 billion.
“The decrease was due to the reduction in the company’s facilities-related expenses and employee related costs amounting to P94 million or 4-percent decline year-on-year,” ABS-CBN said.
Sky Cable Inc.’s revenues dropped 3 percent to P2.29 billon following the decline in cable subscriber count by 80,000. ABS-CBN TVPlus contributed a significant increase in revenues with 589,406 boxes sold, a 22percent increase from a year ago. Kidzania generated P129 million in revenues during the period with 92,000 visitors.