Philippine Long Distance Telephone sees tougher competition Telecom giant finalizing profit guidance for 2015

MANILA, Philippines - Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said it expects tougher competition this year after delivering its revised profit guidance last year.

PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan told reporters yesterday the company is still finalizing its profit guidance for the year, taking into consideration the intense competition in the capital-intensive telecommunications industry.

“Well, I don’t know yet, we’ll see. Competition is getting tougher,” Pangilinan replied when asked about the PLDT Group’s profit guidance for 2015.

Last Nov. 4, the PLDT Group revised downwards by four percent its 2014 profit guidance to P37 billion from P39.5 billion amid intense competition.

The company’s core net income slipped one percent to P28.6 billion in the first nine months of last year from P28.8 billion in the same period a year earlier while consolidated service revenues inched up one percent to P122.9 billion from P121.6 billion.

PLDT’s reported net income likewise declined three percent to P28 billion from P29 billion.

Pangilinan told reporters the PLDT Group likely met the revised profit guidance last year amid higher revenues from its wireless broadband business.

“We are likely to meet the guidance numbers for 2014,” he added.

According to him, higher wireless broadband revenues offset the continued decline in national long distance (NLD) and international long distance (ILD).

“The typical data, broadband Internet revenues and then of course the toll traffic. The NLD and ILD will be down but not as much as 2013,” Pangilinan said.

Earlier, PLDT president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno said the company’s performance in the fourth quarter is better than the third quarter due to the Christmas season.

 “The trending is okay in the fourth quarter and is most likely better than the third quarter. The fourth quarter is usually the best quarter for us because it is the Christmas season,” Nazareno said.

He pointed out that the “free Internet” offered to all subscribers of Smart Communications Inc., Talk ‘N Text, and Sun Cellular likely tempered the performance of the PLDT Group in the fourth quarter.

“However with the free Internet, it might be tempered a little bit but we are maintaining the updated guidance profit, the bottom line guidance,” he added.

The PLDT Group has extended by another month the free Internet promo, benefitting 69 million Smart, Talk ‘N Text, and Sun Cellular that expired last Jan. 5.

The PLDT Group had a subscriber base of 75 million as of end-September comprising of 25.7 million Smart subscribers, Talk ‘N Text with 27.8 million, and Sun Cellular with 15.5 million as well as 3.7 million broadband subscribers and 2.2 million fixed line subscribers.