Weak peso may cut PLDT's full year income but keeps profit forecast

MANILA, Philippines - Foreign exchange losses may cut the full year income of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country’s largest telecommunications firm. However, the company has maintained its full year profit forecast of P37 billion, PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan told Philippine-based reporters in Hong Kong. “Our fourth quarter numbers are looking better than the third quarter but not as good as the first two quarters," Pangilinan said. The weaker peso may prompt the company to “report lower profit than last year because exceptional [gains] will be lower this year," he added. The company’s foreign exchange losses reached P5.99 billion for the first nine months of the year, reversing a P1.66 billion gain during the same period last year, Pangilinan said. “We might continue to show a forex loss under the current condition," Pangilinan added. As of end-September, a US dollar was worth P47.26. PLDT posted a core profit of P27.8 billion from January to September this year, five percent higher than the P26.4 billion reported during the same period last year. The figure excludes gains or losses from foreign exchange and other non-recurring income. Besides being the Philippines’ largest publicly-traded company by market capitalization, PLDT is partly-owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT group. PLDT shares fell P110 to P2230 apiece from P2340.00 during Tuesday’s trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). - GMANews.TV