PLDT Inc., the Philippines’ largest fully integrated telecommunications and digital services company, has been included in the recently launched PSE Dividend Yield Index (PSE DivY).
Out of 20 companies included in the PSE DivY, PLDT shares the top position with a weight of 10 percent, similar to those of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company and International Container Terminal Services Inc.
The PSE DivY focuses on companies that consistently give high-yielding dividends, with the selection criteria including liquidity, free float, financials and the company’s three-year average dividend yield performance.
According to the PSE, the index selection criteria and methodology were benchmarked against peer exchanges such as Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
PLDT has consistently paid out dividends from its annual earnings, in line with its dividend policy of 60 percent payout on core income.
For its 2021 earnings of P30.2 billion, or P140 per share, dividends of P84 per share were declared. This translates to a yield of 5 perecnt based on PLDT’s year-end closing share price of P1,812.
“We are very pleased to be included in the PSE DivY. This affirms PLDT’s balanced approach to capital management, where we continue to provide consistent returns to our shareholders even as we manage our investment in capex and keep our leverage at prudent levels,” said PLDT President and CEO Alfredo S. Panlilio.
The PSE DivY is one of two indices that the PSE launched last March 28, 2022, the other being the PSE MidCap Index.
The PSE explained that the new indices aim to “provide investors additional tools to track market performance, offer alternative indices that may be used as a benchmark for new exchange traded funds or investment funds, and generate additional liquidity for non-PSEi securities.”