PLDT profits P19.4B as Q3 revenues hit record high
Data and broadband climbed 20 percent to P76.7 billion, comprising 66 percent of total service revenues
PLDT Inc. booked P19.4 billion in core income in the first nine months of the year, up a notch from P19.131 billion in the same period last year as service revenues reach a record high of eight percent to P116.3 billion.
The Pangilinan-led telco giant said third quarter service revenues also accelerated nine percent to P39.6 billion on the back of sales improvement in its three major business groups consumer wireless, PLDT Home and PLDT Enterprise, which in total generated P109.4 billion in revenues, or 94 percent of the total.
“By posting its highest-ever nine-month revenues, PLDT is providing more evidence that it is firmly back on the growth path,” PLDT chairm, president and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a disclosure. “It is worth noting that we have started to make inroads in recovering market share in revenue terms in the mobile business in the last two quarters, indicating that we have reached a turning point,” he added. Meanwhile, PLDT’s reported net income dropped 2 percent to P16 billion in the first nine months due to higher manpower rightsizing program expenses and lower gains from the sale of Rocket Internet shares
Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew 16 percent to P60.3 billion in the nine-month period, while EBITDA margin rose to 51 percent, on the back of higher service revenues and lower cash operating expenses.
By segment, PLDT’s consumer wireless business drove revenues in the period, rising 20 percent to P52.6 billion as the company ramps up LTE adoption and usage through the promotion of mobile games, anchored on the success of its free Youtube promo and other data-centric offers.
PLDT said this lead to mobile internet revenues surging 47 percent, with mobile internet traffic growing to 1,106 petabytes or 1.1 exabytes, twice higher from the traffic in the same nine-month period in 2018.
Data and broadband climbed 20 percent to P76.7 billion, comprising 66 percent of total service revenues.
Meanwhile, PLDT Home’s revenues rose two percent to P27.6 billion amidst operational challenges due to ongoing installation and repair set-up transitions. The Enterprise Business Group also grew its revenues six percent to P29.2 billion in the period, wtih data accounting for more than two-thirds of sales.