Philippines' leading broadcaster expands<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuter): The top TV and radio company in the
\nPhilippines, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., will spend about 550
\nmillion pesos (US$21.15 million) on an expansion plan this year
\nto boost its provincial and overseas operations, officials said
\non Wednesday.<\/p>\n
ABS-CBN, which garnered 47 percent of the industry's total
\nadvertising revenue last year, also plans to strengthen its film-
\nmaking operations, company president Eugenio Lopez told a
\nstockholders' meeting.<\/p>\n
He said the company will invest 500 million pesos ($19.23
\nmillion) to expand its provincial radio operations, including the
\nacquisition of new stations in urban centers like Cebu and
\nBacolod in the Visayas and Davao in Mindanao.<\/p>\n
\"We have a very small share of that market. We want to take up
\nas much as a 20 percent share on a nationwide basis,\" Lopez later
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
ABS posted a 62 percent rise in net profit to 976 million
\npesos ($37.54 million) in 1994 against 600.6 million pesos ($23.1
\nmillion) in 1993.<\/p>\n
It is targeting net profit of over one billion pesos ($38.46
\nmillion) this year, about a quarter of it in the first three
\nmonths, Lopez said. He added that preliminary first quarter
\nincome results show the company is within its targets.<\/p>\n
Lopez said ABS-CBN is projected to earn revenue of up to 20
\nmillion pesos ($770,000) from the television coverage of a
\nnational and local election campaign ahead of the May 8 polls.<\/p>\n
He said the company plans to spend $2.0 million for its
\nfledgling international operation.<\/p>\n
ABS-CBN's television programs are beamed via satellite to some
\nparts of the United States through the facilities of a
\nsubsidiary, ABS-CBN International, and Lopez said they plan to
\nexpand their satellite coverage on the West Coast.<\/p>\n
\"With our diversification efforts, ABS-CBN is moving closer to
\nservicing two-thirds of the world,\" he told shareholders.<\/p>\n
The company, through its movie outfit Star Cinema, plans to
\nproduce about 20 movies this year, or about double the number it
\nproduced in 1994 which contributed 20 million pesos ($770,000) to
\nABS-CBN's net income.<\/p>\n
The broadcaster will also start distributing Star Cinema films
\nin Europe and the United States this year through Videopost, its
\nvideo arm, Lopez said.<\/p>\n
He said ABS-CBN will also begin the distribution in the
\ndomestic market of Hollywood movies by MCA Productions Inc.<\/p>\n
This is expected to contribute about 20 million pesos
\n($770,000) annually to ABS-CBN coffers, he added.<\/p>",
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