MANILA, Philippines — Bleeding telco Dito CME Holdings Corp. aims to book a profit by 2027, but it is still nowhere close to reaching that goal as of 2024 when its net loss and capital deficiency worsened by two-fold.
Dito CME yesterday reported that its net loss more than doubled to P14.71 billion in 2024 from P6.93 billion in 2023 on higher interest expenses and foreign exchange costs.
The telco arm of the Udenna Group also doubled its capital deficiency to P73.39 billion, mainly because the company financed the infrastructure rollout of Dito Telecommunity Corp.
The bright spot for Dito CME, however, is that its revenue picked up by 45 percent to P16.35 billion, lifted by the growing market for internet data. Further, Dito grew its subscriber base to 13.67 million in 2024, as the telco covers 900 cities and municipalities.
Dito CME registered a 16-percent hike in spending to P30.52 billion as the company funded Dito’s expansion to keep it within striking distance with competitors. The bulk of Dito CME’s expenses went to general items (P14.63 billion) and depreciation costs (P14.6 billion).
On top of this, Dito CME has yet to come out of the woods in terms of reducing its debts, shouldering a 90-percent increase in interest expenses to P18.58 billion.
The company recognized foreign exchange losses of P8.29 billion in 2024, from a net gain of P5.02 billion in 2023, due to the peso’s depreciation against the dollar and Chinese yuan.
Dito CME said it could turn the page soon through management measures that would shore up resources for capital expenditures and debt payments.
Last year, Dito CME entered into a subscription framework agreement with Summit Telco Corp. Pte. Ltd. for the subscription of up to nine billion primary common shares. Summit Telco placed P10.36 billion in advances in Dito CME to support its funding requirements.
In February, the Philippine Competition Commission cleared the transaction between Dito CME and Summit Telco. Once the deal is done, Summit Telco is poised to become the majority owner of Dito CME, replacing the Udenna Group.
The company, owned by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, has struggled to show any signs it can turn a profit since investing heavily in Dito’s network.
Now that Dito has cleared its required audits to keep its franchise, Dito CME is trimming capital expenditures to a range of P15 billion to P20 billion this year.