PLDT 2017 net income down 33% to P13.4 billion

March 8, 2018

PLDT Inc. on Thursday reported a 33 percent drop in net income last year, mostly due to modernizing its network.

Net income amounted to P13.4 billion last year from P20.16 billion in 2016. In the fourth quarter, PLDT reported a net loss of P8.51 billion, up by 11 percent from P4.14 billion losses in 2016

“This was mainly due to non-core capex-related expenses of P16.7 billion in connection with our transformation initiatives, including accelerated depreciation and loss due to a swap of network elements in certain part of the country, resulting from PLDT’s aggressive network upgrade aimed to achieve dramatic improvements in customer experience,” PLDT said.

PLDT's total revenues fell by 3 percent to P159.93 billion last year from P165.26 billion in 2016. For fourth quarter, PLDT’s revenues reached P40.86 billion from P39.88 billion in the same period in 2016.

“Moving forward in 2018, we continue to level up even more. We are continuing our aggressive network roll-out to bring world class internet to more parts of the country,” Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman and president of PLDT said.

“We are developing more compelling digital services and solutions for both consumer and enterprise customers. We are overhauling our operations so that we can serve our customers in a more personalized way, and, do this quickly and efficiently,” he added.

“Doing all this will require a massive, concerted and sustained commitment – not only in terms of capital resources, but also in management efforts to transform the organization and make it more agile, innovative and customer-focused. These efforts are clearly the way forward for PLDT – with or without a new player in the telecoms industry,” Pangilinan said.

PDT has allotted P58 billion in capital expenditures this year, with 53 percent of the total for fixed network business requirements.

Last year, the company set P40 billion capex or 26 percent of consolidate service revenues. DMS