NEWSFLASH 

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ABS-CBN TO BUILD HOLLYWOOD-STYLE STUDIO LOT

Quezon City, April 29, 2000 The Lopez-owned radio, TV and movies conglomerate ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. (ABS-CBN) is building an integrated studio complex patterned after the Universal Studio in Hollywood to accommodate its growing production requirement.

ABS-CBN chairman and chief executive officer Eugenio L. Lopez III, said the company needs the complex to cope with its production activities, which were expected to increase further.

"The idea is to have a back lot somewhere close by that will house our future production requirements. There are over 16 shows a day that are being produced on remote. If we have a back lot, all those shows will be produced in studios," Lopez said.

ABS-CBN, he said, is now scouting for the best possible site for the project. Asked if the company is considering the Meralco complex in Ortigas and Virra Mall site in Greenhills as a possible location, Lopez did not elaborate but said that the option may be considered. He emphasized, though, that the project would cover 10 to 15 hectares of land.

"Together with our sister company Rockwell Land Corp., we are looking at potential sites," Lopez said, adding that ABS-CBN has yet to give an estimate for the investments that it would be spending for the project.

ABS-CBN plans to implement the project as soon as possible. It said that after the design plan is completed, it would take at least six months to finish the project.

"We want to do it very quickly. I think in six months it can be done. Those 16 remote shows that we are doing on a daily basis probably cost us P100 million a year. So, if you have a back lot there could be a lot of savings," Lopez added.

ABS-CBN is looking at something Universal and Fox Studios have done. The two giant entertainment outfits in the US have been able to combine their back lot operations with the real estate development. Fox Studio, for instance, is combined with a commercial mall. Universal, on one hand, has built a theme park.

"There are plenty of opportunities once we do the project. It can be open to foreign producers if they want to shoot here. What we want to create is a back lot that has already all the facades for various settings. If we do a theme park, we might bring in a foreign partner but if we decide not do so, then we do need one," Lopez said.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN reported a minimal 2.5 percent decline in its net income for the first quarter of 2000 to P418.7 million as against P429.4 million in the same period last year.

Speaking before the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting ABS-CBN president and chief operating officer Federico M. Garcia said the decline was primarily due to higher employee costs and talent fees, in line with the company’s employee retention plan implemented in the second half of 1999.

By the end of the year, ABS-CBN expects to register a net income of P2.3 billion, a 15-percent increase from last year’s P2 billion.

Capital expenditure program for 2000, on the other hand, is pegged at P4 billion, of which, P2.5 billion will go to complete the three new studios it is currently building, while the remaining P1.5 billion will be allotted for its regular maintenance expenses.

In 1999, ABS-CBN registered a 15-percent increase in net income to P2 billion from P1.74-billion in 1998.

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