PLDT records surge in 2023 income at PHP 26.6-B, announces formation of "Digico"

In its latest disclosure, PLDT said the increase in its income resulted from growth across its different businesses.

File photo: PLDT logo

PLDT's 2023 performance and what’s expected in 2024

The Pangilinan-led company said in a statement that it recorded a PHP 26.6 billion net income in 2023, up 154 percent from the previous year. It also said that Consolidated Service Revenues (net of interconnect costs) grew by 1 percent or PHP2.2 billion to a record PHP 191.4 billion last year.

PLDT is aiming not just for higher profits but to return PLDT and Smart to their premier positions, where they rightfully belong. This requires a commitment to excellence all around—encompassing the quality of our network, the efficiency of our installations and repairs, the innovations we pursue and the speed of our services, said Manuel V Pangilinan, PLDT and Smart Chairman and CEO.

Data and broadband contributed 82 percent in consolidated service revenues. This grew by 4 percent to PHP 57.6 billion.

PLDT Home's fiber-only service revenues also continued to grow, registering a 9 percent increase, to a record PHP 53.0 billion in 2023. This accounted for 88 percent of total Home revenues of PHP 60.4 billion.

Total fiber subscribers as of the end of 2023 stood at 3.2 million, with 234,000 fiber net additions for the year.

As for the B2B arm PLDT Enterprise, it recorded PHP 47.1 billion in net service revenues, driven by an expansion in its dynamic ICT business and core data revenues.

Through ePLDT and VITRO Inc., its ICT and data center arms, the telco said its PLDT Enterprise continued its growth momentum in data centers and multi-cloud services. VITRO Inc. maintains the largest network of data centers in the Philippines, with 10 state-of-the-art facilities located in key locations nationwide.

On the other hand, PLDT Enterprise's Internet of Things (IoT) business has experienced substantial growth, with over 200,000 new additions to its IoT platform.

When it comes to the Individual Wireless segment, it posted revenues of PHP 81.8 billion in 2023, up 2 percent as mobile data revenues grew by 6 percent to PHP 71.1 billion. This was driven by an 11 percent year-on-year increase in mobile data traffic to 4,898 Petabytes.

Wireless Consumer Mobile Data revenues now account for 87 percent of total Individual Wireless revenues, with active data users growing to 39.0 million. Average data usage per sub grew 19 percent to 11GB from 2022 which was driven by Smart’s long-validity offers, higher velocity top-up products, and the recently launched eSIMs.

Smart has 57.8 million mobile subscribers as of the end of 2023.

The PLDT Group has further expanded its total fiber footprint to over 1.1 million cable kilometers, consisting of over 0.9 million cable kilometers of domestic fiber and more than 200,000 cable kilometers of international fiber as of the end of 2023.

Homes reached more than 17.5 million in 70 percent of the country’s towns and 91 percent of municipalities.

PLDT's fiber infrastructure supports Smart’s over 74,000 base stations deployed nationwide. Smart's combined 5G/4G/3G network covers around 97 percent of the population.

For 2024, Capex is seen to be around PHP75-78 billion—a decline for the second year in a row. This is in line with the goal of reducing capex spending in the near- to medium-term, and attaining a positive free cash flow position as soon as practicable.

Meanwhile, Maya has doubled its depositor base to 3 million and increased deposit balances by 69 percent to PHP 25 billion as of the end of December 2023.

In 2024, Pangilinan announced the company's goal of becoming a "Digico."

To this end, we are pleased to announce the formation of a digital entity that will harness the data assets of the MVP Group of Companies and provide new growth opportunities for them, he said.

Co-owned by PLDT, Smart, Meralco, and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, Digico's goal is to create an integrated platform that will bring a unified customer experience across the MVP Group and its partners. This represents the first step in our collective effort to drive new growth using technology across the MVP group, he explained.

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