PLDT Inc. on Tuesday reported net income marginally higher in the first nine months of the year amid a tough economic environment.
The company said net income amounted to P27.9 billion in the January to September period, up 1 percent from P27.5 billion in the same period last year.
Telco core income, excluding the impact of asset sales and Maya Innovations Holdings (formerly Voyager Innovations Holdings), reached P26.1 billion, up 2 percent from P25.6 billion from last year.
Manuel V Pangilinan, PLDT chairman, maintains a positive view of its performance for the full 2023 amidst a tough economic environment.
“The company has done reasonably well against a tough inflationary environment, relatively high interest rates, and slowing economic growth,” Pangilinan said.
“In this regard, we are guiding full year core net income of P34 billion, compared with P3.3 billion in 2022,” he added.
PLDT service revenue amounted to P156.35 billion, up 3 percent from P152.13 billion in the same period last year.
Data and broadband, which grew 4 percent to P116.9 billion, contributed 82 percent of consolidated service revenue.
“Now more than ever, we are witnessing how the power of technology and digital services impact Filipinos’ standard of living, with innovations bringing convenience, comfort, productivity, and security to improve overall quality of life,” Alfredo S. Panlilio, PLDT and Smart president, said.
“Our mission at PLDT is to enable our countrymen with the tools and connectivity needed to enhance their digital lifestyles,” he added.
Home’s fiber-only service revenues grew by 10 percent to an all-time high of P39.3 billion in the first nine months of 2023.
Fiber-only revenues accounted for 87 percent of total Home revenues of P45.3 billion, which were 2 percent higher compared with the same period last year.
PLDT’s total fiber subscribers as of end-September 2023 stood at 3.14 million, with 210,000 fiber net additions in the first nine months.
As of end-September 2023, PLDT’s fiber ports widened to 6.15 million covering over 18,000 barangays nationwide.
The B2B arm of the PLDT Group continued its growth trend, reaching an all-time high of P34.8 billion in service revenue, driven by a significant growth in its ICT business and its fixed and wireless solutions.
PLDT’s individual wireless segment posted revenue of P60.6 billion in the first nine months, higher year-on-year by P300 million, as mobile data revenues grew by 5 percent to P52.4 billion for the period.
The company’s capital expenditure (capex) guidance for the year remains at P80 to P85 billion, including P11 billion of the P33 billion capex commitments from prior years, net of advances.
Capex in the first nine months amounted to P55.3 billion, lower than only P67.3 billion in the same period last year.
The PLDT Group has further expanded its total fiber footprint to over 1.1 million cable kilometers, consisting of over 0.2 million cable kilometers of international fiber and about 0.9 million cable kilometers of domestic fiber as of end-September 2023. Homes passed reached more than 17.3 million homes in 69 percent of the country’s municipalities/towns.
PLDT’s fiber infrastructure supports Smart’s 73.8 thousand base stations deployed nationwide. Smart’s network covers around 97 percent of the population.
