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PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. expects its broadband
business to contribute more than half of the company’s revenues
next year.
Manuel V. Pagilinan, PLDT chairman, told
reporters that starting next year more than 50 percent of the
company’s revenues will come from its nonvoice services.
“I think it is different 10 years ago when we
came in and that will continue where data broadband and Internet
will drive the future growth for revenues and profits,” he said.
At present, already half of the telecom
company’s revenues is driven by nonvoice, data and broadband
Internet services.
Its subscribers hit the 501,000 mark and total
revenue contribution from broadband and Internet services surged 43
percent to P5.3 billion for the first nine months of the year.
PLDT, which is partly owned by Hong Kong’s
First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT group, said its profits
reached P9.51 billion in the third quarter, down by 9 percent from
the P10.44 billion in the same period last year.
For the nine-month period ending September,
PLDT’s net income inched up 3 percent to P26.5 billion owing to
lower additional depreciation charges offset by an increase in
provision for taxes of P10 billion.
The company’s consolidated core net income
rose 13 percent to P26.2 billion during the period from last
year’s P23.2 billion. Core profit excludes the effects of foreign
currency adjustments and other financing activities.
The telco has since upgraded its core earnings
forecast for the year to P34.5 billion to P35 billion, up from the
P32 billion estimate made earlier.
--Darwin G. Amojelar
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