GMA Network Inc. on Tuesday reported a 161-percent increase in profit in the first six months, while rival ABS-CBN Corp continued to incur a net loss.
GMA Network, led by Felipe Gozon, said net profit amounted to P3.7 billion from January to June, up from P1.40 billion in the same period last year. Consolidated revenues rose 57 percent in six months to P10.59 billion from P6.75 billion a year ago.
Consolidated advertising revenues climbed 61 percent to P9.88 billion, while sales of goods surged 236 percent, owing to the successful launch of GMA Affordabox in the middle of last year and GMA Now towards end of 2020.
The network’s consolidated operating expenses also increased by 25 percent to P5.90 billion in the six-month period from P4.73 billion last year. Production costs went up by 22 percent to P2.23 billion as more in-house productions were mounted this year.
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN of the Lopez group reported a net loss of P3.39 billion in the first six months, although this was lower than the P3.92-billion loss in incurred in the same period last year.
ABS-CBN said consolidated revenues from advertising and consumer sales fell 38.7 percent to P8.2 billion from a year earlier. Advertising revenues dropped 57.1 percent to P2.23 billion in the first half in the absence of the company’s free-to-air advertising space.
Direct costs and expenses amounted to P11.5 billion, down 31.2 percent from a year ago.
ABS-CBN said it decided to align the number of programs based on the partnerships closed by the company with various free-to-air operators. The alignment resulted in a reduction in production cost amounting to P1.8 billion or 32.8 percent.