Manila: Publicly listed PLDT Inc. is "seriously considering" an initial public offering (IPO) for its data center subsidiary, VITRO Inc., and is no longer pursuing plans to sell stakes in the data center for now. "Most of them (interested parties) want majority. We don't want to sell majority of our data center," PLDT Inc. Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Risk Management Officer Danny Yu said in a briefing Thursday. He emphasized that giving up their stakes in VITRO Inc. "is non-negotiable for now."
According to Philippines News Agency, earlier, PLDT Chair and Chief Executive Officer Manuel Pangilinan mentioned that selling a minority stake in VITRO Inc. or creating a real estate investment trust (REIT) are options for reducing their debt. REIT is an entity that owns, operates, or finances income-generating properties listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. Yu declined to elaborate on the IPO plan, saying nothing is final yet.
In a media interview, ePLDT and VITRO Inc. Chief Executive Officer Victor Genuino noted that REIT rules require only mature assets to be listed, with only data centers older than three years being eligible for listing. Genuino stated, "We are just trying to understand what applies, what doesn't apply, and then we have to make a decision whether it's a path that we want to take." He further added that selling the asset to an interested third party for a majority stake is not an option, as they want to maintain control over their assets for future growth.
On Thursday, PLDT reported a 2-percent rise in gross service revenues to PHP212.2 billion and a 1-percent growth in net service revenues to PHP196.2 billion. The company highlighted that growth in data and broadband continued to offset declines in legacy services, supporting stable earnings and margins. Broadband and data revenues accounted for about 85 percent of net service revenues at PHP166.5 billion.
Capital expenditures last year reached PHP60.3 billion, down from PHP78.2 billion, due to "continued capex discipline and successful vendor negotiations." This year, Yu stated that capital expenditure is projected around PHP50 billion.
