PLDT back on growth track, doubles profit to P26.61 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Telco leader PLDT Inc. returned to growth mode in 2023 as its profit doubled from a year ago, as it cleaned up the P33-billion budget overrun that messed up its balance sheet in 2022.

Based on its financial report, PLDT grew its net income to P26.61 billion last year, from P10.49 billion in 2022, lifted by the across-the-board increase in revenue from the individual, home and enterprise segments.

PLDT’s core income – computed as profit from the primary business of the company with extraordinary items stripped out – rose by three percent to P34.34 billion.

As such, PLDT gained the elbow room to cut capital expenditures and catch up with its industry peers in winding down spending. For 2024, the telco has set a capex range of P75 billion to P78 billion, significantly lower than the P85.1 billion it invested in 2023.

PLDT chairman, president and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company managed to return to expansion mode after writing off the impact of its budget overrun. Pangilinan said the telco has settled the score with all of its vendors affected by the fiscal mess.

To recall, PLDT uncovered a budget overspend amounting to P33 billion incurred between 2019 and 2022.

With the delivery of new technologies, PLDT wrote off legacy assets of as much as P51.2 billion in 2022, denting its net income that year.

PLDT pulled off its comeback by increasing revenue by three percent to P210.95 billion in 2023, coupled with a 24 percent decline in expenses to P158.47 billion.

Pangilinan said the goal for PLDT is to push up its revenue within single-digit level this year. The telco will also bring down its spending to maximize existing assets, and this should result in core income reaching the P35-billion level.

Internally, PLDT hopes to return to a free cash flow by the end of 2024. Pangilinan also said that the telco wants to strike while the iron is hot, and is exploring the possibility of selling a stake in its data center business to a foreign entity.

Proceeds from this potential sale will be used to settle some of the debts of PLDT, as Pangilinan expects such a transaction to be valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Tech giants like Amazon, Google and Meta are always on the lookout for data centers where they can store applications and information. PLDT owns 10 of these facilities and intends to open its largest in July.