PLDT's core earnings rise owing to higher revenues

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said its core net income—or profits from its telecommunications business—rose as revenues increased. For the first nine months this year, core earnings of the Philippines’ largest and leading telecommunications company reached P27.8 billion, five percent more than the figures reported during the same period last year. However, the company’s consolidated net profit fell two percent to P26.2 billion from January to September this year, PLDT said in a press statement which was also disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). Financial results were “adversely impacted by losses" stemming from “foreign exchange revaluation of our financial assets and liabilities, partially offset by net gains on derivative transactions," the company said. Consolidated service revenues, 28 percent of which are dollar-based, increased by five percent to P105.6 billion during the nine-month period, despite the Philippine currency’s strength. A stronger local currency reduces dollar-linked assets in peso terms, PLDT said. Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) went up by six percent to P65.6 billion. As of September 30, the company’s total gross debt balance stood at $1.5 billion with net debt at approximately $900 million. The company said its free cash flows are “more than adequate to service debts." Bulk of its debts will fall due in and after 2012. Eighty-nine percent of its obligations are dollar-denominated, 43 percent of which is hedged. The group’s cash and short-term investments are invested primarily in bank placements as well as government and selected Philippine corporate debt, it added. Similarly, consolidated wireless service revenues rose to P68.8 billion for the first nine months of 2008, seven percent higher than the P64.1 billion realized in the same period last year. PLDT subsidiaries increase customers, revenues PLDT subsidiaries increase customers, revenues The company’s cellular subsidiaries, Smart Communications, Inc (“Smart") and Pilipino Telephone Corporation (“Piltel") have posted total Ebitda of P44.4 billion this year, six percent more than last year’s figures. For the first nine months this year, the company’s total cellular subscriber base continued to grow strongly as Smart recorded net additions of approximately 547,000 subscribers and Talk ‘N Text added about 3.6 million subscribers to end the period with 20.9 million and 13.3 million subscribers, respectively, or a total of 34.2 million subscribers. Moreover, Smart Bro, Smart’s wireless broadband service—provided through its wholly-owned subsidiary Smart Broadband, Inc.—said its wireless broadband subscriber base grew 57 percent for the nine months. As of end-September, wireless broadband customers reached 473,000, 65,000 of which availed of the firm’s services for the third quarter. As a result, wireless broadband revenues grew 94 percent to about P3.1 billion for the period, nearly twice the reported figure during the first nine months of last year. Wireless revenues were boosted by SmartBro’s prepaid Plug-It service, which already has some 76,000 users. Launched in March 2008, the service “offers instant, Internet access through a portable wireless modem and is available in all areas where Smart’s network coverage is present." The company also said its fixed line service revenues increased 2 percent to P36.7 billion in the first nine months of 2008 from P35.8 billion last year as improvements in data revenues, both from corporate data and residential DSL services, were offset by declines in other segments of the business. Retail DSL continued to grow as broadband subscribers grew by over 124,000 to 388,000 at the end of the first nine months of 2008 from 264,000 at the end of 2007. PLDT DSL generated P3.9 billion in revenues for the first nine months of 2008, up 41% from P2.8 billion in the same period in 2007. Fixed Line EBITDA in the first nine months of 2008 improved to P20.5 billion due to higher. - GMANews.TV