PLDT declares 10% minimum cash dividend for ’04 earnings

HONG KONG – The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is giving back to its common shareholders at least 10 percent of its 2004 earnings by the first half of next year in the form of dividends, the first in so many years, according to PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

During Monday’s annual general meeting of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. (FPC) which has a 24.5 percent controlling stake in PLDT, Pangilinan who is the managing director and CEO of FPC disclosed that given PLDT’s 2004 projected earnings of about P18 billion, the 10 percent dividend declaration will amount to about P1.8 billion.

However, the amount of 10 percent is just a minimum and the guidance number and could still increase "if things get better for PLDT," Pangilinan pointed out.

But PLDT’s declaration of dividends to its shareholders will not necessarily mean that First Pacific which is a shareholder will return the amount to its own shareholders. First Pacific has been relying on dividend declarations from its investments in PLDT and Indonesia-based Indofood and whatever has been received from the latter has been used to pay off debts of the parent firm.

Since the First Pacific group took over PLDT, whatever earnings PLDT has made mostly from its wireless subsidiary Smart Communications has been used to pay off PLDT’s own debts. At present, PLDT’s fixed line business still has substantial debts amounting to $2.5 billion which management wants to bring down to a more manageable level of $1.5 billion in the next five years.

By the end of 2004, the fixed line’s debts would have gone down to $2.2 billion from almost $2.5 billion at the start of the year, Pangilinan said.

PLDT’s consolidated net income during the first quarter of 2004 reached P5.24 billion while consolidated revenues went up 19 percent to P27 billion. Smart’s net income in turn soared to P5.15 billion in the same period. Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) rose 28 percent to P16.3 billion.

Given the rosy first quarter numbers, Pangilinan expressed confidence that PLDT is on track with its plan to declare dividends to its shareholders beginning 2005.

Meanwhile, during the First Pacific annual general meeting, Graham Leigh Pickles was appointed as independent non-executive director while Robert Charles Nicholson was reappointed executive director, Philippine Ambassador to the US Albert del Rosario reappointed non-executive director, and Benny Santoso as non-executive director.

First Pacific’s board currently includes Anthoni Salim as chairman, Pangilinan as managing director and CEO, Edward Tortorici, Nicholson, del Rosario, Edward Chen, Tedy Djuhar, Sutanto Djuhar, Ibrahirn Risjad, Santoso, David Tang, and Pickles.