Friday, November 16, 2007 Piltel income up, hits P6.3B in 9 months
PILIPINO Telephone Corp. (Piltel) said its core net income went up 25 percent P6.35 billion from January to September this year, from P5.08 billion recorded for the same period in 2006.
But Piltel reported a net income of P5.7 billion compared to a net profit of P8.46 billion in 2006, due to higher provision for income tax this year and the additional depreciation relating to the company’s fixed-line assets in 2007.
Its pre-tax earnings, however, more than doubled to P8.6 billion for the nine-month period.
Piltel’s board of directors, on the other hand, approved the sale of the company’s fixed line business to the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), subject to the execution of a definitive agreement and fulfillment of certain closing conditions, including the procurement of the requisite regulatory approvals.
The sale will allow Piltel to concentrate its resources on its wireless business and, at the same time, bring together the PLDT Group’s local exchange carrier businesses to derive operating efficiencies.
Piltel’s 40,415 fixed line subscribers will benefit because of the upgrades being undertaken by PLDT on its own fixed line infrastructure. (PR)
