PLDT Inc. said Thursday net profit soared 134 percent in the second quarter, on the back of a one-time gain from the sale of Manila Electric Co. shares and the absence of impairment losses from its investment in Rocket Internet of Germany.
The country’s largest telecom company said net income hit P11.57 billion in April to June, up from P5.33 billion in the same period last year. This brought the company’s total net income in the first six months to P16.5 billion, up 33 percent from last year’s P12.46 billion.
PLDT chief financial officer Anabelle Chua said the significant increase in net income during the period was due to the sale of its stake in Meralco shareholder Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc., which resulted in a gain of P6.6 billion.
Consolidated core income in the first half amounted to P17.4 billion, or 2 percent lower than last year’s P17.7 billion. Consolidated service revenues also declined 6 percent to P75.38 billion from P80.6 billion. “Though 6 percent lower year-on-year, service revenues for the first semester indicated that the downward trend of the topline for the past six quarters had been arrested, with second quarter service revenues leveling off and equaling those of the first quarter at P35.6 billion,” PLDT said.