PLDT Inc. expects “better” earnings in the first half of 2017, boosted by its fixed line business, its top executive said.
“It’s better than last year,” PLDT chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan said, when asked about expectations for first-half earnings.
The company posted a net income of P12.46 billion in the first half of 2016, down 33 percent from P18.72 billion in the same period in 2015.
PLDT, partly owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT group, said net income amounted to P4.95 billion in January to March, down 20 percent from P6.21 billon it earned in the same period last year.
Core profit, which excludes foreign exchange gains or losses and other non-recurring income, also dropped 26 percent to P5.3 billon from a year earlier.
Eric Alberto, chief revenue officer of PLDT, said the financial performance was stabilizing in the second quarter, led by Home and enterprise business and the mobile segment.
“We’re seeing signs of stability and hopefully that will allow us to find a new base by which to develop a breakout point in growth,” Alberto said.
The company is maintaining a profit guidance of P21.5 billion this year, despite the lower first-quarter profit.
Consolidated service revenues went down 7 percent to P35.6 billion from last year’s P40.59 billion.
The company’s Home and enterprise business units led the way in the first quarter, posting double-digit revenue increases from a year ago.
Home service revenues amounted to P7.8 billion, up 12 percent, while enterprise service revenues rose to P8.5 billion, climbing 13 percent from the first quarter of 2016.
PLDT’s wireless consumer group’s service revenues went down 18 percent to P14.7 billion, largely due to declines in text and voice revenues.
The combined subscriber base of Smart, TNT and Sun rose 400,000 to reach 63.1 million as of end-March.
