(Refiles to correct former titles of Alfonso de Angoitia and Bernardo Gomez in paragraph 6 to executive vice president)
MEXICO CITY, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Mexican broadcaster Televisa on Tuesday posted a quarterly net profit down 12.5 percent from a year ago, hurt by declines in advertising.
Grupo Televisa, Mexico’s leading broadcaster, reported net profit of 563 million pesos ($28.6 million) and net sales of 26.1 billion pesos during the fourth quarter to December.
A fall in advertising appeared to be the main drag on the company’s results, said analyst Carlos de Legarreta of GBM. The company said it had shifted its advertising clients to a new pricing scheme based on TV show ratings, going into effect this year.
Like broadcasters internationally, Televisa, which owns Mexico’s popular ‘Las Estrellas’ network and a sizeable stake in U.S. Spanish-language peer Univision, is facing increasing competition from internet-based streaming services.
Over the past year, the company has shuffled its management team.
Late last year, longtime Chief Executive Emilio Azcarraga announced he would step down, remaining as chairman of the board. Executive Vice President Alfonso de Angoitia and Executive Vice President Bernardo Gomez succeeded him as co-chief executives in January.
The company also named a new Chief Content Officer last year.
Televisa has said that it will sell off assets as it focuses on content and distribution. Last week, the company announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its 19 percent stake in Imagina, a Spanish media group, for 284 million euros ($350 million).
($1 = 19.6595 Mexican pesos)
$1 = 0.8105 euros Reporting by Julia Love, Noe Torres and Sheky Espejo, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien