International credit ratings firm, Standard and Poor’s (S&P), improved its outlook ratings for telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to positive from stable, following a similar action on the sovereign credit rating outlook of the country.

S&P also affirmed PLDT’s foreign currency and senior unsecured rating of “BBB-“ and the Association of South East Asian Nations regional scale rating of “axA-,” which are considered investment grade.

In a statement S&P said that, “The rating reflects the company’s strong position in the domestic market, diversified services, integrated network and solid cash flow measures.”

“This affirms that the company is in the right direction as it evolves into a multi-media services group that is fully prepared for the screen age,” said Manuel Pangilinan, chairman of PLDT.

He added that the recent decision of the company to sell 80 percent of its shares in leading Filipino business process outsourcing firm SPi Global will further strengthen PLDT’s finances and improve its cash flow.

For his part, PLDT President and Chief Executive Officer Napoleon Nazareno said that the completion of the two-year P67-billion network modernization program and further turbo-charging of the company’s network will push PLDT far ahead of competition in terms of service reliability, speed and efficiency.

This enables PLDT to lower its capital expenditures to its normal level of about 17 percent to 18 percent of revenues.

PLDT earlier earned the distinction of being the first Philippine corporate to be given investment grade credit ratings by all three major international credit watchers—S&P, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.

After raising the sovereign ratings outlook, S&P said that it “may raise the country’s debt rating next year depending on improvements in government revenue structure, a continued diminished reliance on foreign currency government debt financing, or a lower government debt burden.”

“We may also raise the ratings if institutional and structural reforms lead to improved investment environment and thus better growth potential,” it added.