Televisa's profit falls on ad weakness, higher costs

Mexico's Grupo Televisa on Thursday reported a 37 percent drop in profit in the fourth quarter, dragged down by higher costs and weakness in its advertising unit as it rethinks its pricing strategy.

The broadcaster and Spanish-language content provider said net profit in the October to December period was 1.571 billion pesos (US$91 million), compared to 2.504 billion a year earlier.

Sales of advertising in its content division were down 11 percent in the quarter.

Televisa is grappling with viewers switching from free-to-air channels to watch content on other platforms such as pay TV and online. It said it was still restructuring the advertising business and its pricing policies.

The company's depreciation and amortization costs also rose by almost 16 percent in the period.

Televisa's telecoms arm, which includes pay television, is the fastest growing part of the company. In the fourth quarter, operating income increased more than 20 percent.

Televisa narrowly avoided more tough rules for its pay TV arm in October, despite its more than 70 percent share of satellite TV customers in Mexico and more than 50 percent of cable TV.