Uy-led Chelsea close to recovery, but Dito sinks deeper into red

MANILA, Philippines — Dennis Uy’s logistics venture is close to erasing its net loss on the back of shipping recovery, but his telco is struggling to come out alive from its debt pile.

Between January and September, Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. succeeded in slashing its net loss by 71 percent to P301 million from P1.04 billion a year ago.

Chelsea president and CEO Chryss Alfonsus Damuy said the company is close to wiping out its net loss as a result of debt restructuring and revenue expansion.

The revenue of logistics unit of Davao tycoon’s Uy amounted to P6 billion during the period, lifted by double-digit growth across select segments. Passage went up by 20 percent, while chartering improved by 37 percent.

Damuy said Chelsea is keen on sustaining growth momentum, especially as the logistics industry continues to rebound in the pandemic aftermath.

He added that the company is also looking to explore new opportunities to widen its income channels.

“We are certain we are in a strong position to take advantage of new opportunities and promote long-term growth as the shipping and logistics sectors grow,” Damuy said.

On the contrary, Uy’s telco Dito CME Holdings Corp. is finding difficulty erasing its net loss and debt burden, as its finances worsened in the nine months to September.

Dito CME saw its net loss almost double to P11.05 billion during the period from P5.73 billion a year ago, as capital and debt expenditures outweighed income growth.

The parent of telco Dito Telecommunity Corp. turned in a 47-percent jump in revenue to P11.89 billion, as Dito expanded its subscriber base to more than 13 million. Dito also grew its network coverage to 886 cities and municipalities across the Philippines.

However, Dito CME jacked up expenses by 23 percent to P21.68 billion, as the company spent more for commercial rollout. Dito CME’s interest expense also nearly doubled to P14.49 billion to cover the payment of maturing loans.

Dito CME is facing a capital deficiency of P60.23 billion as of September, but has set a series of fundraising activities, including a follow-on offer, to finance capital expenditures.

Dito CME earlier announced that it might welcome a new majority owner in Singapore-based Summit Telco Corp. Pte. Ltd., which is acquiring up to nine billion primary common shares.