Fitch unit: PLDT resignations signal commitment to corporate governance standards
MANILA, Philippines — The recent exits of five senior PLDT, Inc. officials in the wake of an overspending fiasco showed the telco’s commitment towards bolstering corporate governance standards, so says a unit of the Fitch Group.
In an emailed commentary on Thursday, CreditSights noted that the actions on the side of the Pangilinan-led telco showed some measure of commitment to improve operations.
“Even though higher management would have clearly been aware of the immediate operational impacts from the absence of the senior officers, the fact it remained firm in its drastic turnovers could suggest a strong commitment towards ensuring proper accountability and governance,” the commentary read.
CreditSight maintained its “market perform recommendation” for the telco, citing the company's “robust” credit profile that was lifted by its announced tower sales.
As it is, these five senior officials were top-billed by Annabelle L. Chua, chief financial officer and chief risk officer, who opted for an early retirement. Most of these officials were vice presidents of PLDT when they chose to exit on Monday.
The capex budget overrun problem came to light in December, as PLDT’s share price plummeted minutes before trading ended. Back then, it was revealed that the telco had spent P48 billion for its capital expenditures from 2019 until 2022.
Even then, the Fitch unit offered two explanations on why these senior officials were shown the backdoor. These executive could have been negligent in their duties to the company, CreditSights said, following an external audit which wrapped up months back. Or a case where senior management had to be held accountable.
“Overall, we maintain our expectation that the capex overrun was due to management missteps and not intentional fraud, but remain watchful of negative headlines risks,” CreditSights added.
PLDT has not disclosed replacements or any long-term plans for the positions vacated in the wake of budget overrun. — Ramon Royandoyan
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