The board of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has approved a multibillion-peso investment of its wholly-owned subsidiary in TV5 as the network aims to grow its market share by 30 percent by 2015.
Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of PLDT and ABC Development Corp. told reporters that its board approved a P6 billion investment by ePLDT, in the form of Philippine Depository Receipts (PDRs), in TV5 and Cignal TV.
ePLDT will subscribe to PDRs to be issued by MediaQuest Holdings Inc. and the proceeds from subscription will be invested by MediaQuest in TV5 and Cignal.
Of the total, P4.8 billion would be invested in TV5 to finance the state-of-the-art Media Center in Mandaluyong and the remaining P1.2 billion will be used to expand the operation of Cignal.
Pangilinan said TV5 expects to post a loss this year and smaller losses in 2013.
"By 2014, we expect to post a profit," he added.
Ray Espinosa, president and chief executive of TV5, said the network has grown its market share from 2.3 percent in 2007 to 18 percent at the end of 2011 for Metro Manila.
In addition, TV5's market share nationwide grew to 15.6 percent last year from 2.7 percent in 2007.
Espinosa said TV5's target market share nationwide is 30 percent by 2014 or 2015.
Cignal TV, the largest direct-to-home pay-TV operator in the Philippines has over 250,000 subscribers.
Investments in media had historically been made and managed through MediaQuest, a wholly-owned entity of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund.
PLDT's financial investment in the media industry is consistent with its overall strategy of evolving itself from a traditional telco into a multi-media service company.
With the direct investment, MediaQuest will serve as the anchor for the PLDT Group's media offerings through the creation of content, generation of new revenue streams and provision of direct access to overseas Filipino workers worldwide.
Group profit falls 6%
PLDT on Tuesday said its net income fell by six percent to P10.1 billion in the first quarter from P10.7 billion in the same period last year.
Its core profit, which excludes foreign exchange gains or losses and other non-recurring income, amounted to P9.3 billion, lower than the P10.6 billion in 2011.
Revenues rose by 13 percent to P42.8 billion.
The PLDT group’s total cellular subscriber base stood at 66.1 million with net additions of 2.4 million in the first quarter. Its broadband subscribers hit three million.
“Our first quarter results are in line with our expectations that industry stability would return in gradual but quite certain terms. As we continue the complex task of integrating Digitel/Sun Cellular into the PLDT Group, we are heartened by the opportunities for both synergy and growth we see arising. In the meantime, we are pursuing further rationalization measures, which may be somewhat adverse in the short-term but should produce sustainable, longer-term benefits. Similarly, the financial investment in media is important and expected to create value over a longer time frame but is one that is necessary for our growth and transformation,” Pangilinan said.
Napoleon L. Nazareno, president and chief executive of PLDT and unit Smart Communications Inc., said the company is beginning to see early signs of stability with the integration of Digitel.
"We expect a gradual improvement in product yields and overall profitability from the ongoing rationalization on both services and brands front. More importantly, we continue to push our network modernization program even as our subscribers are already experiencing the benefits of our ongoing efforts,” he added.
source: interaksyon.com
