The U.S. District Court for Central District of California granted final approval to PLDT’s case-ending settlement of securities class action litigation last Sept. 17, 2024.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the telco giant said the class action commenced in 2023 against PLDT and certain of its current and former directors and officers (defendants) by certain investors in PLDT’s American Depositary Shares.
The investors alleged that defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding PLDT’s capital expenditures and internal controls (among other matters) at various times between 2019 and 2022.
PLDT entered into a Stipulation of Settlement on Feb. 16, 2024, to resolve the U.S. Class Action in its entirety against all defendants for a payment of $3 million. The settlement contains no admission of liability, fault, or wrongdoing by any defendant.
The Judgment and Order of the Court entered on Sept. 17, 2024, provides that the Court will retain jurisdiction over (among other matters) the implementation of the settlement and the distribution and disposition of the settlement fund.
PLDT said earlier that, once approved by the Court, the settlement will resolve the US Class Action in its entirety against all defendants.
In 2022, PLDT announced that it had discovered a P48-billion discrepancy, which accounts for about 12.7 percent of its P379-billion capital expenditure over the past four years since 2019.
Last year, PLDT confirmed that a US shareholder filed a securities class-action lawsuit against the company, alleging violations of Federal Securities Laws. The case cited the company’s disclosures indicating a budget overrun of P48 billion during the period.