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Bloomberg
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. profit fell 33 percent in the second quarter as the nation’s largest phone carrier booked losses for its investment in Germany-based Rocket Internet SE and as earnings from its mobile-phone, data and landline businesses were little changed.
Net income was 6.25 billion pesos ($133 million) in the three months ended June, compared with 9.34 billion pesos a year ago, the company said Tuesday in a statement.
The carrier also said it would cut its dividend payout to 60 percent of core income from 75 percent to compensate for an increase in spending.
PLDT raised its capital spending target to 48 billion pesos to pay for facilities needed to
use frequencies the carrier agreed to buy from San Miguel Corp. in May.
The company has boosted spending to a record to raise data capacity for subscribers using social media such as Facebook and apps like Viber and Snapchat.
PLDT and rival Globe Telecom Inc. acquired the telecommunications business of San Miguel Corp. for about 70 billion pesos, including debt, giving them equal access to the 700 megahertz spectrum.
The bandwidth is crucial to enhance wireless internet speed and quality.
The nation’s competition commission has said it will pursue a comprehensive review of the transaction.