The cable unit of ABS-CBN Corp. is optimistic about its broadband business amid the growing demand from its subscribers.
“If you actually look at the requirements of the Philippines, there is a lot of opportunity for a broadband service. That’s why we think, the reason why our broadband service from Sky Cable is growing because there is really a need for a broadband service and this is an area we can be competitive in terms of pricing. Not the type we would lose in terms of pricing because we have the infrastructure for the broadband service,” ABS-CBN chief financial officer Aldrin Cerrado said.
“I did mention that our homes passed for broadband is about a million. And you’ve seen the total number of subscribers we have. In terms of opportunity, there is still about 750,000 homes that our infrastructure can service but they haven’t converted into Sky Broadband. Even say a 35-percent penetration of those household, would definitely increase subscriber base by about 100,000 immediately and 100,000 is almost 50-percent increase,” he said.
Sky Cable Corp.’s total subscribers hit 1.3 million as of end-September, up 23.9 percent from last year.
SkyCable’s net income amounted to P75 million in the first nine months of the year, up by 8.7 percent from 69 million in the same period last year. Revenues rose by 6.86 percent to P6.85 billon in the January to September period from P6.41 billion last year.
ABS-CBN earlier reported a net profit of P2.3 billion in the first nine months, down by 20 percent from last year’s P2.85 billion
Advertising revenues fell 3 percent in the nine-month period to P15.3 billion, net of election-related spending.
The decline in recurring ad sales was tempered by an 11-percent increase in consumer sales, which totaled P14.2 billion over the same period. The company’s profit guidance for this year was between P2.7 billion and P3 billion.
The robust growth in consumer sales was driven by a strong demand for ABS-CBN TVplus digital boxes and an increase in Sky’s direct-to-home and broadband subscription revenues.