As Covid-19 restrictions ease and consumers favor a more digital lifestyle, PLDT Inc. hauled in ₱46.4 billion consolidated service revenues (net of interconnection costs) in the first quarter of 2022, up 3 percent from the same period last year, resulting in 56 percent increase in net income to ₱9.1 billion.

Significantly, the bulk, or 79 percent of the telco's consolidated service revenues, came from its data and broadband business, which posted 8 percent growth to ₱36.6 billion.

Core income, excluding the impact of asset sales and Voyager Innovations, reached ₱8.2 billion, up 9 percent.

Consolidated EBITDA also grew 10 percent year-on-year to a record ₱25.5billion, marking seven consecutive quarters of growth.

EBITDA margin was at 53 percent in the first quarter of 2022, from 51 percent in the previous year.

Normalized for the impact of Typhoon Odette, EBITDA for the first quarter of 2022 would have been higher by 12 percent year-on-year to ₱26.1 billion.

“We’re moving in lockstep with our customers’ shifting needs as COVID-19 restrictions ease," confirmed PLDT and Smart President and CEO Alfredo S. Panlilio.

“I am encouraged with our strong start for 2022 as we once again posted a record high in revenues, improved EBITDA and increased Telco Core," remarked Manuel V. Pangilinan, Chairman of PLDT and Voyager

To support updated requirements for the Home broadband and data center businesses and additional upgrades of the towers and their passive infrastructure assets, PLDT has revised its capex guidance for 2022 to ₱85 billion, from the original capex guidance of ₱76-80 billion.

The telco's Consolidated Net Debt as of the first quarter of 2022 amounted to $4.424 billion while net-debt-to-EBITDA stood at 2.33x. Gross Debt was at $4.997 billion, with maturities well spread out.

PLDT maintained its credit ratings from Moody’s and S&P Global at investment grade.

In a groundbreaking transaction, the PLDT Group recently announced a ₱77 billion sale and leaseback deal in connection with 5,907 telecom towers and related passive telecom infrastructure--the largest ever acquisition of assets in the Philippines by international investors.

PLDT envisions a staggered closing for this transaction due to the quantum of towers to be transferred; the first closing is expected towards the end of May for about half of the towers, with the balance over the third and fourth quarters of the year.

Terms of the lease agreements are in line with running costs for Smart.

Proceeds from the transaction are to be deployed largely for debt prepayment and debt avoidance which will translate to reduced financing costs.

The PLDT Group also rebranded its mobile wallet Paymaya as Maya and launched Maya Bank after a US$210 million funding round of Voyager Innovations (Voyager), the parent company of both PayMaya and Maya Bank.

This latest fundraising propelled Voyager to unicorn plus status at a valuation of nearly US$1.4 billion. PLDT remains the largest shareholder of Voyager, infusing US$62 million in the latest funding round.

“PLDT and Smart are continuously expanding and enhancing the digital ecosystem available to Filipinos through synergies with Maya," Panlilio explained.

“The launch is just a beginning. So much work lies ahead," Pangilinan stressed.

“Success for us is millions of Filipinos who can be banked—whose savings can bear the weight of inflation, where financing can help them plan better for their future," he added.

On the other hand, PLDT Home service revenues increased 25 percent year-on-year to an all-time high ₱13.6 billion.

Fiber-only revenues now account for 82 percent of total Home revenues, up from 59 percent from a year ago.

Demand for home broadband is expected to remain robust as the Philippine home broadband market remains underpenetrated and as the ‘next normal’ will continue to be a hybrid model with work

As the economy reopens, Enterprise revenues also soared 7 percent to ₱11.6 billion.

Spurred by the digital transformation of enterprises and the return of business activity with the re-opening of the economy, corporate broadband connections grew by 8 percent, while cloud licenses grew by 36 percent to about 550,000 for the period.

Third-party data center racks in service during the first quarter of the year grew by 41percent.

Aimed at positioning the Philippines as the next hyperscaler destination in Asia, the telco's ICT arm ePLDT recently broke ground for the country’s largest data center campus: Vitro Sta. Rosa in Laguna.

It will be the first of the group's series of hyperscale facilities totaling to a power requirement of 100MW over the medium term.

On the other hand, PLDT's Individual Wireless revenues hit ₱20.4 billion as average monthly mobile data usage per subscriber reached 8.5 gigabytes, 17 percent higher than the monthly average for 2021.

As of the first quarter of 2022, active data users reached over 41.6 million customers. Meanwhile, first quarter data traffic on Smart’s 5G network grew by 65 percent quarter-on-quarter as the number of unique 5G devices on the network grew 35 percent from end-2021 to more than 1.58 million.

Continuously ramping up efforts to reach more homes across the country, PLDT’s fiber footprint expanded by 8% from end 2021 to over 803,000 kilometers in the first quarter of 2022, with homes passed at about 15.5 million.

To support the constant growth of mobile data traffic, Smart increased to 76,600 its total base stations nationwide as of end-March 2022, supporting its 3G, 4G/LTE and 5G customers from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi. This includes around 7,300 5G base stations.

Overall, PLDT is on track to meet its targets for the rest of 2022, with Service Revenues expected to post mid-single digit growth.

“This growth in service revenues will be underpinned by our continued rollout of fiber ports and LTE/5G, our data center expansion, and our commitment to delivering the best customer experience,” says Panlilio.

PLDT Chairman Pangilinan stressed that PLDT must be steadfast in its goal to deliver its Core Income target and achieve positive free cash flow.

"We must stay the course to generate greater free cash flow from higher revenues, cost optimization and the sale of our Towers – the last of which could enhance income this year and in succeeding years," according to Pangilinan.

"All of these should enable us to deleverage, reducing net debt to EBITDA back to 2.0x—enabling us to pay special dividends, and fortify PLDT’s Balance Sheet,” the chairman concluded.