ABS-CBN Executives Received Higher Compensation Than GMA-7 Execs

Thursday, June 28, 2012

ABS-CBN Executives Received Higher Compensation Than GMA-7 Execs

They may dispute each other's rankings, but when it comes to executive compensation, ABS-CBN is definitely way, way ahead of competing GMA Network.

ABS-CBN reported Thursday that it paid chief executive and child of owner Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III and its four highest officers nearly P233.4 million last year, which works out to an average of P46.6 million each.

Lopez's charmed circle includes President Ma. Rosario Santos-Concio, Roldeo Theodore Endrinal, Rolando Valdueza and Ma. Socorro Vidanes.

In contrast, GMA chairman and chief executive Felipe Gozon paid himself and his co-owner, president Gilberto Duavit Jr. as well as Felipe Yalong, Marissa Flores and Wilma Galvante a little over P134 million, or about P23.36 million each.

The combined compensation still includes the last paycheck of broadcaster Miguel Enriquez, who retired from GMA in September 2011 as senior vice president for radio operations.

The wide disparity between the two networks may be explained by ABS-CBN posting a net income of P2.42 billion last year, compared to GMA's P1.7 billion.

Still, the compensation gulf may not be that wide, given GMA's profit-sharing clause for its board and executive committee that has been cast in stone within the network's charter.

According to that provision, both Gozon and Duavit are also entitled as directors to one percent of the year's net income "to be distributed share and share alike" among GMA's nine board members.

Over and above that, the GMA chief executive and the president are also entitled to another 1.5 percent of the net income as extra compensation for the network's executive committee.

That 2.5 percent works out to over P42.8 million for all. Do the rest of the math.