GMA Network Q1 income up 22% at P421M

GMA Network Inc. on Sunday said its net income for the first quarter of the year rose 22 percent to P421 million, boosted by strong airtime revenues from local and international operations. In a statement sent to the media, GMA Network said gross revenues during the period increased 9 percent to P2.494 billion. The company, which seeks to be part of the Philippine Stock Exchange later this year, said the quarterly airtime revenues of both GMA-7 and QTV-11 improved on-year. GMA Network said QTV’s first quarter gross revenue is 48 percent higher compared to the first quarter of 2006 while revenue from the network’s international operations – GMA Pinoy TV and syndication – grew 89 percent compared to the first quarter of last year. Operating expenses rose 6 percent to P1.155B driven primarily by GMA-7’s higher production cost and ads & promo mainly for new programs launched this period — Asian Treasures, Super Twins, Kwento ni Lola Basyang, Muli, Lupin, and Sine Totoo. This was partly offset by the production cost of QTV which slid by 8 percent due to cost efficiency and programming strategies. The broadcast company said it has maintained its lead in Mega Manila TV ratings as of March 2007. Based on AGB Nielsen’s Mega Manila TV Households Overall Channel Ratings, GMA posted an average total day rating of 17.3 percent against ABS-CBN’s 14.9 percent. The network’s international channel, GMA Pinoy TV, continues to register significant increase in number of subscription worldwide. As of February 2007, GMA Pinoy TV’s official subscriber count reached more than 131,000. GMANews.TV is the official website of GMA News and Public Affairs, a unit of GMA Network Inc. - GMANews.TV