ABS-CBN Corp. chairman and chief executive officer Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III on Thursday said there are are no talks to sell the company, amid speculation that Globe Telecom is eyeing the media conglomerate.
In a press briefing after a special stockholders' meeting, Lopez said ABS-CBN is in talks with Globe and other companies about a potential partnership.
"The discussions with Globe is part of overall discussions with various members of the industry. At this point in time, there is nothing concrete to report wth regards to any discussions we're having," he said.
"The question is whether ABS-CBN is willing to sell, and the answer is no."
Globe is in talks to take over another company under the Lopez group, Bayan Telecommunications.
ABS-CBN held a stockholders' meeting on Thursday morning for the approval of the conversion of some common shares into preferred shares.
ABS-CBN assistant corporate secretary Enrique Quiason said the move is meant to give the company flexibility in raising capital.
He didn't link it to the SEC's draft rules on foreign ownership limits, which apply to media companies like ABS-CBN.
Quiason said ABS-CBN is trying to forge a common position with other groups on foreign ownership limits.
"We're talking with MAP and FINEX to give a common position on that. On the ownership, I think the rules mention the depository receipt program. The first draft of the rules seem to allow that kind of program," he said.
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN reported its 9-month net income stood at P1.555 billion.
The figure is 31% lower than P2.24 billion a year ago, which included a one-time gain from the sale of SkyCable PDRs. Excluding the effect of the one-time gain of P825 million, net income would have been up by 10%.
ABS-CBN's consolidated revenues improved by 13% year-on-year to P24.017 billion. Advertising revenues, which accounted for 60% of revenues, rose 8% to P14.46 billion as the network continued to dominate ratings and saw higher revenues from its sports division and cable channels.
Consumer sales, which accounted for 40% of revenues, jumped 21% to P9.52 billion on the back of SkyCable's growth. - With ANC
source: abs-cbnnews.com