PLDT says on track to hit P26-billion core profit for 2019

Ralf Rivas

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PLDT says on track to hit P26-billion core profit for 2019
PLDT's core income grows by a decent 6% to P7.2 billion in the 1st quarter of 2019

MANILA, Philippines – PLDT chairman and chief executive officer Manny Pangilinan is confident that the company can meet its core income target of P26 billion for 2019, on the back of decent earnings for the 1st quarter of the year.

Looking at PLDT’s core income, or earnings solely from its main telecommunications business, it grew by 6% to P7.2 billion during the 1st quarter compared to the P6.8 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Service revenues rose by 7% to P38 billion, lifted by wireless services.

Meanwhile, PLDT’s data and broadband service revenues grew by 21% to P24.4 billion, accounting for 68% of total service revenues.

However, its net income, which takes into account other business segments, slightly decreased to P6.7 billion, 3% lower year-on-year.

“Two things stand out in our results for the 1st quarter of 2019. First, close to 70% of our service revenues are now from data and broadband, underscoring the fact that our secular shift to data and digital services is moving at a faster clip, reflecting our ability to attract more data customers and migrate our legacy subscribers to data,” said Pangilinan.

“Second, our individual wireless business, which started to take off in the last quarter of 2018, gained more momentum in the 1st quarter this year, surpassing even our expectations,” he added.

Other segments also saw revenue growth, including video and games (up by 18% to P16.9 billion), home business (up by 3% to P9.1 billion), and enterprise (up by 9% to P9.8 billion).

From January to March, PLDT’s fixed line broadband network expanded to 6.7 million homes, added about 1,700 long-term evolution (LTE) base stations. It expanded the total footprint of its fiber optic cable network to 259,000 kilometers.

PLDT is moving forward with 5G technology and teamed up with global technology company Cisco to transform its fiber transport network. (READ: Here are all the 5G phones we saw at MWC 2019)

“Combined with our ongoing overhaul of our IT systems and processes, this initiative will radically improve our ability to serve our customers with compelling digital services,” said Mario Tamayo, PLDT and Smart senior vice president. – Rappler.com

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Ralf Rivas

A sociologist by heart, a journalist by profession. Ralf is Rappler's business reporter, covering macroeconomy, government finance, companies, and agriculture.