PLDT sees strong Q2 profits; to close Star acquisition
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 05/26/2009 6:34 PM
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Profits, revenues and subscriber take-up of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) have remained "well and strong" since April this year, its chairman announced Tuesday.
"We are doing well in the second quarter. That's in terms of profits, revenues and subscriber take-up which all remain to be doing well and strong," PLDT Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said at the sidelines of the Manila Electric Co.'s annual stockholders' meeting on Tuesday. He did not cite figures.
For the first three months of the year, PLDT reported a net income of P9.6 billion, an 8-percent drop from P10.4 billion recorded in the same period last year. The company attributed the year-on-year decrease to P600 million in foreign exchange and derivative losses resulting from movements in the peso-dollar exchange rate.
Pangilinan said PLDT will hit a core net income of P40 billion this year, representing a 5-percent increase from 2008. Net income, on the other hand, is projected to exceed last year's level of P34.6 billion.
"Yes, we are on track to meet the P40 billion," he said.
Early this month, Pangilinan said the group may post a higher net income for 2009 if the average foreign exchange rate stays within P48 to P49 per dollar, limiting PLDT's derivative and forex losses.
Service revenues, meanwhile, are seen to grow 5 percent this year to P150 billion. For the first quarter, PLDT's consolidated service revenues rose 4 percent to P36.2 billion from P34.9 billion last year, driven mainly by the 6-percent growth in data and broadband revenues.
Star acquisition
In another development, Pangilinan said MediaQuest Holdings Inc., the beneficial trust fund of PLDT employees, is set to complete the acquisition of a 75-percent stake in daily broadsheet The Philippine Star.
"We hope to finish it within the next month or two. It's around 75 to 76 percent," he said.
Pangilinan added that he already sold his personal stake in the broadsheet to MediaQuest, which also owns 30 percent of business newspaper BusinessWorld. "I sold it at my cost to BTF (beneficial trust fund)."
PLDT's purchase of the newspaper was announced early this year, with the deal amounting to P4.5 billion.
The Philippine Star, ranked among the top three English-language dailies in the Philippines, reportedly has total assets of P1.23 billion as of end-2007. Its total net worth was P421 million.
Apart from the daily broadsheet, the Star Group of Companies also publishes several Filipino-language tabloids and a Cebu daily called "The Freeman".
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