The Daily Tribune <<< Without Fear or Favor >>>

»HEADLINES

»NATION

PLDT profit 21% higher in 1st quarter to P10.4B

By Earl Paolo Jaculbe

05/07/2008

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.’s (PLDT) net profit for the first quarter went up by 21 percent to P10.4 billion from P8.6 billion last year.

Service revenues increased by 6 percent to P34.9 billion, notwithstanding the 16-percent appreciation of the peso.

Earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) improved by seven percent to P21.8 billion while Ebitda) margin improved slightly to 63 percent.

The company’s debt last March stood at approximately $406 million. Free cash flow stood at P17.3 billion in the first quarter. Capital expenditures were at P3.1 billion with spending expected to accelerate.

Wireless service revenues grew 8 percent to P22.5 billion for the first quarter from P20.8 billion in the same period last year.

Revenues from its mobile units improved by 8 percent to P14.5 billion this year from P13.5 billion last year. Ebitda margin went down marginally to 64 percent due to certain one-off cash expenses in the satellite business.

PLDT’s total cellular subscriber base went up to 20.6 million and 11 million subscribers for Smart and Talk ‘N Text (TnT) respectively, or a total of 31.6 million subscribers.

PLDT and Smart president Napoleon Nazareno said Smart sustained its strong subscriber numbers despite increasingly difficult economic environment.

PLDT unit Pilipino Telephone Corp.’s (Piltel) also increased its profit during the period by 24 percent to P2.46 billion from P1.99 billion a year ago.

The company’s earnings before tax increased by 23 percent to P3.67 billion for the first quarter.

Piltel’s total revenues for the first three months grew 17 percent to P4.20 billion from P3.57 billion last year. The company attributed this growth to substantial growth of the TnT subscriber base.

TnT’s subscriber base surpassed the 11.5 million mark last month. Service revenues grew 24 percent to P3.87 billion from P3.13 billion last year. Data revenues increased by 31 percent from P1.98 billion last year to P2.59 billion this year. Voice revenue grew 11 percent from P1.15 billion last year to P1.28 billion this year.