GMA Network and ABS-CBN report weaker H1 results amid absence of election advertising

Two of the Philippines’ leading broadcast companies, GMA Network Inc. and ABS-CBN Corp., have released their financial results for the first half of the year, revealing a downturn in performance compared to the previous year.

This decline has been attributed to the absence of election-related advertising, which had provided a significant revenue boost in the past.

GMA Network, under the helm of Gozon, reported a net income after tax of P1.18 billion for the period from January to June, reflecting a substantial drop from the P4.02 billion recorded during the same period in the previous year. The network’s net income after tax for the second quarter alone amounted to P580.5 million, down from P1.8 billion in the previous year’s second quarter. Consolidated revenues also saw a decrease, totaling P8.46 billion compared to the previous year’s P11.94 billion.

Costs were a highlight in GMA Network’s report, with consolidated operating costs for the first half amounting to P6.9 billion, slightly lower than the P6.7 billion reported in the same period of the previous year.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN disclosed that its net loss after tax widened to P2.23 billion in the January to June period, surpassing the P1.4 billion loss recorded in the same period of the previous year. The second quarter specifically proved challenging for the company, with a net loss of P890 million, a notable increase from the P66.78 million loss in the second quarter of the previous year. The company’s consolidated revenues also experienced a decline, reaching P8.8 billion, down from the previous year’s P9.5 billion.

ABS-CBN’s report indicated a positive trend in costs, as total costs and expenses dropped to P10.6 billion from the previous year’s P11.4 billion.

The absence of election-related advertising campaigns, which are known to significantly impact revenues in the broadcast industry, has evidently played a role in the financial setbacks witnessed by both GMA Network and ABS-CBN. This underlines the extent to which political events can influence the financial performance of media companies in the Philippines.