Wednesday, April 13, 2011

ABS-CBN net profit surges 87%

Record-high P3.2B due to political ads

By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:55:00 04/12/2011

MANILA, Philippines—ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. expanded its net profit last year by 87 percent to a record-high P3.2 billion as huge election-related advertising complemented its regular advertising stream and steady consumer sales.

The target for 2011 is to at least match last year’s banner performance even in the absence of political or advocacy advertising, which contributed P3 billion in revenues in 2010 (a presidential election year).

“We’ll have a good shot on it,” ABS-CBN chief finance officer Rolando Valdueza said in a briefing Tuesday. “We can’t totally replace P3 billion but we expect consumer sales to give the boost.”

The multimedia giant has committed P5 billion for capital spending this year against P3.7 billion in actual spending last year. This year’s budget includes P1.4 billion for the broadband expansion of SkyCable and P600 million for the planned rollout of its digital television services that will eventually replace analog systems currently in use.

ABS-CBN’s cash flow last year as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) reached P8.6 billion, up by about a third from a year before. This yielded an Ebitda margin of 27 percent compared with 26 percent the previous year.

Consolidated revenues of P32.2 billion from advertising and consumer sales in 2010 increased by P7.3 billion, or 30 percent year on year, the multimedia giant disclosed Tuesday. A programmed average rate increase of 15 percent that took effect in February 2010 likewise boosted revenue growth.

Negotiations were ongoing for the implementation of the next rate increase, Valdueza said.

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