PLDT uses borrowings to pay dividend

FIRST Pacific Co. Ltd. belongs to the Salim group of Indonesia but is based in Hong Kong . Despite being a foreign conglomerate, it dominates various industries in the Philippines such as telecommunications, electricity and water delivery. It also has major exposure in infrastructure as operator of the North Luzon Expressway.

As a major investor, First Pacific has not much to offer in terms of foreign capital inflow because it operates on borrowings. The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which the Indonesians own in partnership with the NTT Group of Japan, spent P6.26 billion in financing costs in 2015, an increase of 17.6 percent from P5.32 billion in 2014.