PLDT Inc. said Thursday net income slightly dropped in the first quarter amid soaring inflation and seasonal dip in consumer spending.
The country’s largest telecom company said net profit amounted to P9.015 billion in the first quarter, down from P9.07 billion in the same period last year.
Core income, excluding the impact of asset sales and Voyager Innovations, reached P8.6 billion, up 5 percent from the same period last year.
“Because of soaring inflationary pressures, we must strive to attain cost-efficiency and operational excellence in order to provide leveled-up customer experiences while keeping our products and services affordable for our subscribers,” PLDT and Smart president and chief executive Alfredo Panlilio said.
“We continue with our transformation initiatives to strengthen our core business as we plan for our growth strategies,” he said.
Service revenues rose 2 percent in the first quarter to P47.1 billion, led by Home and Enterprise.
Data and broadband, which grew by 6 percent to P38.5 billion, contributed 82 percent of consolidated service revenues.
Individual wireless segment posted revenues of P19.8 billion in the first quarter, showing stable revenues year-on-year despite the impact of SIM registration, continued high inflation and the seasonal dip in consumer spending after the Christmas holidays.
Mobile data revenues increased 4 percent to P17 billion as data usage per subscriber and data traffic continued to register year-on-year increases.
PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the capital expenditure overrun issues were largely resolved. “It is time in 2023 for PLDT to face forward, and move on. We should now channel our energies towards keeping the PLDT Group well-positioned for growth amidst this challenging macro-economic environment,” he said.
“As inflation pressures continue to bear down upon our consumers, we continue to improve our operations and find ways to be cost-efficient in order to keep our products and services relevant and affordable for our customers, while staying profitable,” Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan said the first-quarter results demonstrated the resilience of the company and its people, reiterating PLDT’s ambition to reinvent itself by 2025 as industry thought leader, employer of choice of Filipinos and a responsible corporate citizen.