Azteca sees pay-off only in Mexico
Details
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez
| 25 February 2017

Content sales in Mexico are driving most of TV Azteca’s financial activity, while its foreign operations are losing significance.


As the media company continued refocusing on the local market, so its operational results evolved, reaching $217 million in sales during Q4 2016, 4% more than during the same period in 2015, according to parent company Grupo Salina’s report.*

Of the total amount, $165 million was driven by the Mexican operation both through content sales and advertising. As a result, income through Azteca’s international operations was marginal.

Azteca America, the free-to-air channel for the US Hispanic market, had sales of $20 million in the period, while content sales across Latin America were less than $2 million, and the FTA operation in Guatemala and Honduras less than $1 million.

TV Azteca's telecom operations in Colombia, where it is reducing investment,*also saw a drop in income ($12 million during the period), while its Peruvian telco business remains stable ($9.5 million).

“Our entertainment propositions and quality news programmes satisfy the demanding audience and have consolidated TV Azteca as Mexico’s free-to-air TV reference,” said Benjamín Salinas, CEO, TV Azteca. “Increasing incomes and highly efficient production have resulted in a solid expansion of the EBITDA margin.”

EBITDA grew by 21% during the quarter to reach $74 million, and by 46% for the full year, reaching $185 million.