Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 7) — Telecommunications giant PLDT Inc. saw its net income slip as of September, bogged down by higher operating costs despite sustained growth in revenues.
The publicly listed service provider PLDT told the Philippine Stock Exchange it booked ₱16 billion for the first nine months, 2 percent lower than last year’s level.
The Pangilinan-led company enjoyed an 11 percent growth in revenues, which rose to ₱109.4 billion during the period amid gains in all segments: wireless, home, and enterprise subscriptions.
Data and broadband services, which take up two-thirds of its revenue base, saw profits climb by a fifth to ₱76.7 billion, PLDT said.
Mobile internet alone saw a 47 percent surge in collections, with data traffic now at 1.1 Exabytes. Its subsidiary Smart attributed the increase to new promos for mobile data subscriptions that drove revenues as 70 percent of its users are now capable of mobile browsing and gaming.
Home subscriptions saw a modest 2 percent pickup to ₱27.6 billion so far this year amid “continuing operational challenges” in installation and repairs. Meanwhile, corporate accounts enjoyed a 6 percent boost to ₱29.2 billion through fixed lines, wireless, and even PLDT’s cloud and cybersecurity offers.
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However, these gains were offset by ₱95.7 billion in operating expenses, coupled with a ₱6.13 billion in other incurred costs.
The company’s core income ended at ₱19.4 billion. This excludes equity losses from Voyager, its technology development unit.
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PLDT Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the company remains on track to hit their core income target for the full year set at ₱26.4 billion. This would entail raking a ₱7-billion core income in the fourth quarter.
PLDT added that it has spent ₱53.4 billion out of the ₱78.4 billion in capital investments earmarked for 2019, as they pursue increased LTE coverage and expanded service areas.
PLDT shares ended 0.98 percent lower at ₱1,110 apiece on Thursday.
