Fitch upgrades PLDT’s credit rating

Credit watcher Fitch Ratings on Tuesday upgraded the long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) to ‘BBB+’, citing the telco’s leadership in the fixed-line subscriber market.

In a statement, Fitch said it upgraded PLDT’s IDR to ‘BBB+’ from ‘BBB’.

Under the Fitch Ratings scale, a ‘BBB’ rating indicates expectations of default risk are currently “low” while the capacity for payment of financial commitments is “adequate.”
 
"“PLDT’s ratings reflect its leading position in the Philippines, with 70 percent subscriber market share in fixed-line and 48 percent revenue market share in mobile,” Fitch said in a statement.

Fitch expects PLDT’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to rise in the medium-term.

PLDT said it was targeting an EBITDA of P68 billion this year through cost management and handset subsidy cuts.

Shares of PLDT Inc. closed Wednesday at P1,440 per share, unchanged from Monday. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News