Stock News 2012: Lopez Holdings posts 76% profit hike

Meralco (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lopez Holdings Corp. reported a 76-percent jump in its nine-month net income to P6.185 billion due to affiliate First Philippine Holdings Corp.’s one-time gain from the sale of additional stake in Manila Electric Co. and from the receipt of Rockwell Land shares.

In a financial report submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Lopez Holdings said earnings of associates grew 16-fold to P5.307 billion from only P305 million following FPHC’s sale of a 2.66-percent stake in Meralco in January this year amounting to PP3.34 billion.

FPH also booked an additional gain relating to its previous sale of Meralco shares, with the assignment to the FPHC group of Rockwell Land shares received as property dividends by buyer Beacon Electric.

Lopez Holdings said unaudited consolidated revenues went up 13 percent to P24.02 billion as associate ABS-CBN Corp. logged in stable numbers and implemented higher advertising rates beginning February.

Finance costs declined 13 percent to P547 million from P627 million due to lower debt levels of Lopez Holdings.   The company booked a foreign exchange gain of P178 million due to the appreciation of the peso against the dollar by end-September 2012.

ABS-CBN, meanwhile, reported a 31-percent drop in net profit during the period to P1.555 billion. Without the extraordinary gains from the sale of SkyCable PDRs last year, ABS-CBN’s net earnings would have increased by 10 percent.  Consolidated revenues climbed 13 percent to P24.02 billion as advertising revenues, which make up 60 percent of total revenues, rose eight percent  given ABS-CBN’s sustained ratings leadership and higher revenues from its Sports division and the cable channels.

Consolidated consumer sales, which accounted for 40 percent of revenues, went up 21 percent, largely attributable to SkyCable’s growth on the back of better postpaid and broadband revenues.

FPHC likewise reported a net income of P11.62 billion in the first nine months or 17 times the P637 million recorded the same period last year. It booked a P6.084 billion gain on sale from the sale of its Meralco stake.

http://www.philstar.com/business/2012/11/16/867253/lopez-holdings-posts-76-profit-hike

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Stock News 2012: GMA Network sustains streak of TV ratings win

GMA Network, Inc. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Broadcast company GMA Network delivered a consistent streak of winning television ratings performance in the first semester of 2012.

Based on January to June 2012 data from ratings service provider Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, GMA led competitors ABS-CBN and TV5 in National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) with an average total day (6 a.m. to 12 mn) household audience share points of 35.5, higher than ABS-CBN’s 30.5 and TV5’s 14.6.

Relative to the first semester of 2011, GMA was the only television station that posted improvements in total day household audience shares. GMA’s share points improved by 2.4 points while ABS-CBN and TV5 dropped respectively by 1.6 points and 0.6 point.

At the period’s close this June, GMA maintained its number one rank in total day household audience shares with 34.4 points versus ABS-CBN’s 32.7 and TV5’s 13.7.

GMA’s lead in nationwide audience shares is mainly driven by its strong performance in the afternoon block (12 noon to 6 p.m.), where its programs averaged low to high 40s in household audience shares in NUTAM and in the strategically important areas of Urban Luzon and Mega Manila, which respectively comprise 77 percent and 59.5 percent of total urban television households nationwide.

On primetime, GMA maintained its single-digit margins over ABS-CBN and low 20s margins over TV5 in Urban Luzon and Mega Manila.

GMA’s lead across all timeblocks, including the heavily watched primetime TV, in the viewer-rich areas of Urban Luzon and Mega Manila and its dominance in nationwide TV ratings bring the station to the best position of being the advertisers’ top-of-mind media partner.

This June, GMA had 19 and 20 programs in the respective lists of overall top 30 programs in Urban Luzon and Mega Manila respectively.

GMA also dominated the lists of top 10 overall programs in both areas with seven entries in Luzon and eight entries in Mega Manila. Among the programs that made it to the top 10 in both lists were the Pacquiao-Bradley boxing match special, Legacy, The Good Daughter, Eat Bulaga, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, and 24 Oras.

GMA’s dominance in television ratings rakes in more company income. In fact, GMA finished the first quarter of 2012 as the most profitable and cost-effective broadcast company with P388 million in bottom line.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=823737

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Stock News 2012: ABS-CBN income falls 69% to P306 million in Q1

Logo for ABS–CBN Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Multi-media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp. said its net profit declined 69 percent in the first quarter this year to P306 million, from P976 million a year ago when it booked gains from the sale unit of Sky Cable’s Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs).

Stripping the one-time gain of P674 million in 2011, however, ABS-CBN’s net income would have been up one percent on a recurring basis, the company said.

Consolidated revenues rose eight percent to P7.1 billion, 59 percent of which or P4.2 billion came from advertising.

Advertising revenues across all platforms and subsidiaries went up four percent to P4.2 billion.

But earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 35 percent to P1.4 billion.

Consumer sales climbed 15 percent to almost P3 billion, largely driven by the 12 percent growth in Sky Cable’s revenues owing to the nine percent rise in postpaid service and 31 percent hike in broadband service revenues.

Revenues from its international unit, ABS-CBN Global, improved three percent on the back of a three percent rise in overall viewer count to around 2.5 million as of end-March this year. Double-digit growth in subscribers continued to be experienced in Canada, and singledigit growth in all other territories except Japan and Europe where subscribers declined.

ABS-CBN maintained its national audience share and ratings leadership with prime-time audience share averaging 42 percent during the period under review, with a 12 percentage point lead over main rival GMA’s, according to Kantar national TV ratings data.

Total operating and other expenses jumped by 27 percent to P6.1 billion. Production costs increased 10 percent to P2.5 billion

The company has earmarked around P5 billion for its capital expenditure program this year, majority of which or P2 billion will go to the continued expansion of the broadband business. Around P1.2 billion will be channeled to flagship station Channel 2.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=807032

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Stock News 2012: Lopez Holdings earnings drop 70%

Logo for ABS–CBN Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Lopez Holdings Corp. posted a net income of P3.955 billion last year, down 70 percent from the P13.175 billion recorded in 2010 which was propped up by gains from the sale of shares in power utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

In a financial report submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Lopez Holdings said net revenues declined 10 percent to P25.047 billion due to lower earnings from its affiliates.

Multi-media conglomerate ABS-CBN registered on earnings drop of 25 percent to P2.4 billion due to the absence of political advertising revenues.

First Philippine Holdings Corp., posted a net profit of P2.12 billion as against P24.85 billion the previous year when it sold a 6.6 percent stake in Meralco.

“ABS-CBN operates in a fiercely competitive market, but continues to make significant investments toward future growth. At the same time, FPH is expanding its renewable energy portfolio through First Gen. We believe their clear strategic directions will allow Lopez Holdings to provide sustainable returns to shareholders over the long term,” said Lopez Holdings president Salvador G. Tirona.

As of end-2011, Lopez Holdings held a 60.3 percent economic interest in ABS-CBN and 46.6 percent in FPHC.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=802927

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