PLDT Inc. said Monday net income in the third quarter dropped 49 percent from a year ago, after it increased expenditures to support its digital pivot.
PLDT, partly owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT group, said it booked a net income of P3.40 billion in July to September, down from P6.61 billion it earned in the same period last year.
This brought the company’s net income in the first nine months to P15.87 billion, lower by 37 percent than P25.34 billion a year earlier.
PLDT chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan described the financial result as “annus horribilis,” which means a horrible year.
“This year has been a particularly challenging period for PLDT, as we grappled with both intense price competition and the continuing shift from voice/SMS services to data demand impacting adversely our wireless revenues; as well as internal adjustments in our senior ranks and in our processes which we are undertaking,” Pangilinan said.
“All that said, our digital transformation remains on track. We remain focused on the critical initiatives that will definitively shape our businesses to the new direction where growth is driven by data and digital innovation,” he said.
Core profit, which excludes foreign exchange gains or losses and other non-recurring income, fell 50 percent to P4.04 billion in the third quarter from P8.15 billion last year. In the first nine months, core profit dropped 20 percent to P21.74 billion from P27.08 billion.
Consolidated revenues also declined 2 percent in the nine-month period to P125.39 billion from last year’s P127.87 billion. In the third quarter alone, PLDT’s revenues went down 6 percent to P40.10 billion.
The consumer wireless business group posted service revenues of P55.8 billion, down 5 percent from the previous year. Mobile internet revenues jumped 37 percent while wireless broadband increased 13 percent.
Revenues from voice and SMS services declined 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively. This stemmed from a 5 percent reduction in subscribers count on aggressive unlimited voice and SMS offers by competition.
PLDT Group had a total subscriber of 65 million as end-September.
Pangilinan said the company expected core net income to reach P28 billion this year, revised downward from the original guidance of P30 billion.
“As we close 2016, and look to next year and beyond, I believe it is critical that PLDT establish a baseline position from which we could pivot to a higher plane in the coming years,” Pangilinan said.