• Subscriber growth powers revenue surge
• Loss still heavy but trimmed by higher data use
• Cash burn persists as capital gap widens
DITO CME, operator of DITO Telecommunications, posted a slightly smaller nine-month net loss as expanding mobile and fixed wireless access bases pushed revenue higher and strengthened the company’s recurring income.
The company reported a net loss of P24.93 billion compared with P25.86 billion a year earlier, a 4 percent improvement.
Revenue rose to P14.92 billion from P11.89 billion as subscriber additions and heavier data use outweighed weaker average revenue per user.
What is happening?
Mobile subscribers increased by 1.5 million year-on-year while fixed wireless access users rose by 0.181 million.
By end-September the business had 15.2 million mobile customers and 0.319 million fixed wireless access users.
The company credited promotional activities as well as new license store formats and campus activations. Network coverage expanded to 961 cities and municipalities from 886 last year which boosted activations.
The revenue mix continued to tilt toward data
• Data revenue surged 44 percent and now makes up 86 percent of DITO Tel revenue versus 75 percent last year.
• Voice and SMS dropped 61 percent as usage continued to shift toward data.
• Fixed wireless access revenue grew more than four times and increased its share to 6 percent from 2 percent.
Balance sheet pressure
Total assets slipped to P209.33 billion while interest-bearing loans rose to P192.51 billion and trade and other payables increased to P90.20 billion.
Capital deficiency widened to P95.31 billion from P73.39 billion due to ongoing losses and heavy finance costs.
Costs and cash
Earnings before income tax depreciation and amortization rose 112 percent to P1.57 billion from P737 million as revenue momentum improved and the company tightened spending.
Yet depreciation and amortization increased nine percent to P11.47 billion due to continued capital expenditure additions even with total capital spending dropping sharply to P2.48 billion from P10.51 billion after the final technical audit in 2024.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
