PLDT firms top list of profit makers in 2005

The top three companies in 2005 in terms of profitability belong to the group of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) with mobile phone unit Smart Communications Inc. remaining as the most profitable company for three consecutive years, based on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) 2006 edition of Philippines 5000.

Philippines 5000, a joint venture between the SEC and credit ratings agency Credit Information Bureau Inc. is an annual listing of the largest 5,000 corporations in the country.

Smart, the most profitable subsidiary of PLDT, posted a net income of P22.92 billion in 2005, up 17 percent from the previous year on higher subscriber base. In terms of sales, however, the cellular firm ranked only ninth with revenues of P65.23 billion or a little lower than the year ago’s P65.89 billion.

Parent firm PLDT remained on second spot with net earnings of P20.23 billion, or an increase of 14.2 percent from the year earlier’s level of P17.71 billion.

Third was Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel), which vaulted from seventh place as net income grew 38 percent in 2005 to P13.46 billion from only P9.75 billion in 2004. This as Piltel recorded a financing gain of P1.2 billion in 2005 compared to an expense of P1.9 billion in 2004. A forex gain of P1.8 billion was registered as the peso appreciated against the dollar and the Japanese Yen, as compared to 2004 when a P517-million forex loss was recorded.

Piltel, a subsidiary of PLDT, is expected to sustain its gains this year as it undergoes a capital restructuring program aimed at cleaning up its balance sheet to allow it to declare dividends to shareholders by the third quarter of the year or early 2008.

On fourth place was oil firm Chevron Malampaya, a new entrant to the magic 10, with net earnings surging 101.8 percent to P11.09 billion. The company, through Texaco Philippines Inc., is committed to help the government in its economic development programs and in the establishment of necessary infrastructure to foster economic activities.

Ayala-controlled Globe Telecom ranked fifth with net earnings of P8.57 billion or 23.89 percent lower than 2004’s P11.26 billion. The income drop was mainly due to the decline in the number of subscribers and higher expenses.

On sixth, seventh and eight place were Bank of the Philippine Islands with profits of P8.57 billion, milk and chocolate manufacturer Nestle Philippines Inc. (P5.83 billion) and SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest shopping mall operator, (P5.826 billion), respectively.

This was also the first time that SM Prime landed on the top 10 moneymakers’ list. The improvement was attributed to the 45.85-percent growth in net income as it opened several malls in 2005.

Completing the top 10 are oil firms Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. with net earnings of P5.765 billion and P5.762 billion, respectively.

Petron, on the other hand, was the country’s top grosser in 2005 with revenues growing 29.78 percent to P191.65 billion, displacing Baguio-based chip maker TI Philippines which fell to third place as revenues declined by 4.58 percent to P151.77 billion.

Maintaining the number two spot in terms of revenues was the Lopez-owned utility firm Manila Electric Co. with revenues rising 17.73 percent to P176.35 billion.

Shell came in third with revenues of P149.12 billion followed by computer manufacturer Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines) Inc. (P100.34 billion), Chevron Philippines (P74.66 billion) and PLDT (P68.46 billion).

Rounding off the top 10 grossers include Nestle (P65.38 billion), Smart (P65.23 billion), and flag carrier Philippine Airlines (P54.94 billion).

PAL is a new entrant to the top 10 grossers list as it continued to post increases in its revenues and trim its debt to a more manageable level.

On the other hand, the state-owned Philippine National Construction Corp. led the biggest money losers with losses of P2.09 billion although it ranked 588th in sales.

Pineapple producer Dole Philippines Inc. came in second with losses of P1.72 billion followed by Export and Industry Bank (P1.66 billion), Gokongwei-owned cellular unit Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (P1.37 billion), Yuchengco-owned pre-need firm Pacific Plans Inc. (P1.13 billion), Wu Kong Singapore Pte. Ltd. (P1.03 billion), Leighton Contractors (Asia) Ltd. P759.05 million), Alcan Packaging Starpack Corp. (P757.72 million), Samsung Electro Mechanics Phils. Corp. (P753.68 million), and Takenaka Corp. (P753.56 million).