MANILA - The country's largest telecommunications firm is expected to show a "better" year-on-year performance in the third quarter, a traditionally slow period for the company.

In a forum on Wednesday, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Chairman Manuel Pangilinan described the company's July to September performance as "better than last year" in terms of profit.

"That's (profit) what counts, doesn't it?" he said, without citing specific reasons for the expected growth in company earnings during the 3-month period.

Last year, PLDT posted a 28% drop in profits for the third quarter due to higher costs and slowing demand. The company reported a net income of P6.91 billion for the 3-month period against P9.54 billion a year ago.

PLDT reported a 15% rise in net income to P10.14 billion for the second quarter of 2009, driven mainly by the company's marketing promotions to encourage spending amid the economic downturn. This brought PLDT's profits for the first half of the year to P19.7 billion, a 2% climb from last year's P19.3 billion.

Earlier, PLDT said it is expecting a dip in profit growth in the third quarter, a time when there are no prominent holidays in the country. But by the end of the year, PLDT President and Chief Executive Officer Napoleon Nazareno said they are likely to rake in more revenues due to the Christmas season and election spending for the 2010 polls.

"Profits in the second half are normally lower because of the third quarter drop," Nazareno told reporters in a briefing last August.

Nevertheless, PLDT has raised its full-year core net income forecast to P41 billion from the previous P40 billion. The latest figure is an 8% growth from the company's core profit last year.