PANGILINAN-LED PLDT Inc.’s (PLDT) net income for the first nine months of 2024 marginally grew to P28.1 billion from the P27.9 billion posted in the same period last year.
Core income, which excludes the impact of asset sales and losses from Maya Innovations Holdings, reached P26.6 billion, up 2 percent year-on-year.
This was attributed to 4-percent growth in gross service revenues, which amounted to around P155 billion from P149.75 billion last year. Net of interconnection costs, service revenues rose to P144.9 billion from P142.3 billion in 2023.
“As we seek growth in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, we must take on an insurgent’s attitude to not simply embrace change but lead it,” PLDT and Smart Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said.
“We must challenge the wisdom that we have acquired over the years, to consistently rise to meet and exceed the constantly growing demands and expectations of our customers,” he added.
Pangilinan confirmed that PLDT was in talks with Europe’s CVC Capital Partners on the sale of its data center business ePLDT, which it has valued at $1 billion.
“I believe that talks are still ongoing. We have an exclusivity deal with them currently to not entertain other potential strategic partners for now, but several have been inquiring. And as for the possibility of looking for another potential investor after the exclusivity period, we do not know that yet,” he said.
By segment, PLDT’s individual wireless segment posted higher revenues of P62.10 billion, led by mobile services. As of end September 2024, PLDT had 60.3 million registered mobile subscribers.
The Home segment posted revenues of P45.20 billion, flat from a year ago. Fiber-only service revenues reached P41.70 billion. PLDT said that it had 3.3 million fiber subscribers as of end-September and that its fiber network now covered at least 20,744 barangays nationwide.
PLDT Enterprise, its corporate business arm, reported P36.10 billion in net service revenues on increased demand.
Maya Bank’s deposit balances surged to P36 billion, while its banking customer base grew to 4.5 million. Loan disbursements reached P67 billion for the period, while the number of borrowers on the platform rose to 1.4 million.
PLDT on Tuesday also said that Kayana Solutions Inc. (formerly referred to as DigiCo), had signed a partnership with IT firm Accenture to create a “digital factory” to accelerate digital product development for the Metro Pacific group.
Earlier this month, PLDT said its board had approved funding for PLDT’s pro rata interest in Kayana, with the business unit announcing its plans to increase its stake in Manila Electric Co.’s CIS Bayad Center Inc.
Kayana plans to acquire 319,800 common shares of CIS Bayad Center at a share price of around P9,009.57 for a total purchase price of about P2.9 billion.
PLDT said that capital expenditures (capex) for the first three quarters stood at P52.30 billion, in line with its guidance of P75-P78 billion for the full year.
Danny Yu, PLDT CFO and chief risk management officer, said the telco was looking at a capex budget of less than P75-P78 billion for 2025.
“Definitely, it is going to be lower next year. In terms of how we will fund that, it will be a mixture of the monetization of some of our assets,” Yu said.
PLDT shares on Tuesday fell by P59, or 4.22 percent, to close at P1,340 each, outpacing a 1.87-percent plunge for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.
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