Despite the challenging market condition, PLDT Inc. is on track to meet its mid-single- digit service revenue growth target this year driven by its strong broadband business, which continues to offset the decline in the wireless business.
PLDT reported its net income grew 30 percent to P16.7 billion in the first half of the year compared with P12.9 billion in the same period last year, while its consolidated service revenue rose 5 percent to P94.5 billion in first semester from P89.9 billion a year ago.
Alfredo Panlilio, PLDT and Smart Communications Inc. president and chief executive officer, said the company’s service revenues are expected to post a mid-single-digit growth driven by the growth of both the broadband and enterprise businesses.
“Home broadband will lead this growth, with Enterprise also expected to register stronger performance, underpinned by ICT (information and communications technology). And although Wireless faces tough market conditions, it should benefit from the continued opening up of the economy,” Panlilio said.
Manuel Pangilinan, PLDT chairman, said he expects PLDT to outperform against a very challenging environment.
“We expect stronger headwinds in the second half, with higher inflation impacting our customers’ pockets as well as our own operating costs. With so much pressure on growth, it is imperative that we stay focused on our strategic initiatives and managing costs,” Pangilinan said.
“As to full year profit guidance, we maintain telco core income at P33 billion, albeit some upside may be possible as portions of proceeds from the towers sale are used to pay down debts in the second half,” he added.
In terms of capital expenditure, PLDT is targeting to spend P85 billion this year but it will likely spend an additional P2 billion to P3 billion due to the weakening of the peso against the dollar, according to Pangilinan.
Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in the first six months grew 8 percent year-on-year to P50.5 billion, another all-time high, crossing the P100-billion mark for the last 12 months, PLDT said.
Telco core income, excluding the impact of asset sales and Voyager Innovations, reached P17 billion, up 12 percent from the same period last year, the company added.
With the stiff competition in the broadband and wireless markets, PLDT has signed a memorandum of understanding with three satellite firms to further expand its network in far-flung areas.
As of end-June this year, the PLDT Group’s customer base stood at 77 million, of which over 69 million are wireless subscribers and the rest are fixed broadband subscribers. – Myla Iglesias
