PLDT Q2 2025 Earnings Report

PLDT EPS Results

• Actual EPS: N/A
• Consensus EPS: $0.73
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

PLDT Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: N/A
• Expected Revenue: $983.43 million
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

PLDT Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2025
• Date: 8/12/2025
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
• Conference Call Time: 3:30AM ET

PLDT (NYSE:PHI) provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment. The company also provides fixed line telecommunications services; business infrastructure and solutions; intelligent data processing and implementation, and data analytics insight generation services; and information and communications infrastructure for Internet-based services, e-commerce, customer relationship management, and information technology (IT) related services. In addition, it offers managed IT outsourcing, Internet-based purchasing, IT consulting and professional, and bills printing and other related value-added services; distributes Filipino channels and content services; and provides full-services customer rewards and loyalty programs. Further, the company engages in the sale of mobile handsets, broadband data routers, tablets, and accessories; and cross-border digital platforms. Additionally, it provides gaming support services; mobile internet and broadband, and data services; content provider and develops mobile application; IT solution; data and network; domestic leased lines; alternative messaging solutions, such as over-the-top services, social media, and messenger application; inbound roaming and other services; mobile prepaid and postpaid services; and fixed wireless broadband services. The company was formerly known as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and changed its name to PLDT Inc. in July 2016. PLDT Inc. was incorporated in 1928 and is headquartered in Makati City, the Philippines.

PLDT Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: PLDT’s service revenues net of interconnection costs reached PHP97.1 billion, with EBITDA up 3% to PHP55.5 billion and a stable 52% margin.
• Positive Sentiment: Maya delivered its first profitable semester with PLDT’s share of PHP4.6 billion, lifting consolidated core income by 1% year-on-year.
• Positive Sentiment: Home segment revenues grew 4% to PHP30.4 billion, driven by 169,000 net fiber additions (vs. 50,000 last year), steady ARPU at PHP1,485 and improved churn.
• Neutral Sentiment: Enterprise ICT revenues rose 15% and VITRO data-center colocation was up 36%, while overall enterprise revenue fell 1% due to legacy declines and election-related delays.
• Negative Sentiment: A pending Open Access Act could allow non-franchise providers to access PLDT’s infrastructure, prompting potential legal challenges and increased compliance costs.

Presentation

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm Jingay Nobrales, Head of Investor Relations here at PLDT, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to our first half financial and operating results briefing. Joining us today to share insights into PLBT's performance and strategic direction are PLBT Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Butchimenez PLBT Financial Officer, Mr. Danny Yu PLD corporate secretary, Marilyn Victorino Aquino, PLD chief legal counsel, attorney, Joanne DeFinnecia Cabal, PLD head of consumer home, mister John Palanca, PLD head of enterprise, Blum Spineda, PLDT President, Vivo Yenvino and PLDT Treasurer, Leo Posadas.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Later, during the call, we will also be joined by SMOR Communications' Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Jorge Marquez.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Go ahead, Danny. Yeah. Good afternoon, everyone. Allow me to present PLDT's first half twenty twenty five performance covering key results and business highlights. Our service revenues net of interconnection cost reached 97,100,000,000.0.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Our service revenues net of interconnection costs reached 97,100,000,000.0, a touch higher year on year. EBITDA came in at PHP55.5 billion, up 3% last year. EBITDA margin remained steady at 52%. This was supported by steady growth from our fiber and disciplined cost management. Cash OpEx subsidies provisions, reflecting continued spending discipline.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Telco core income land, down 4%, mainly due to higher depreciation and financing costs, plus investment in our network in infra to improve quality of service. Core income on the other hand reached 17,600,000,000.0, up 1%, lifted by Maya's positive earnings. PLDT share in Maya's core earnings amounted to CLP $4.00 6,000,000,000 in the first half, its first profitable semester, marking a $1,100,000,000 turnaround from the $693,000,000 loss last year. This strong result reflects continued growth in deposits, lending and payments volume. In summary, we delivered stable core results and maintain our EBITDA margin, driven by careful cost management and ongoing revenue growth in key areas.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

PLDT service revenues remained stable, driven by sustained demand across three segments, mobile data, fiber, corporate data and ICT. Starting with Home, revenues grew 4% year on year, reaching PHP 30,400,000,000.0 led by strong steady fiber demand. Enterprise was slightly lower at billion, down 1% due to continued declines in legacy businesses. Positively, Corporate Data and ICT revenues held steady despite last year's closure of overall connectivity. Within these segments, ICT stands out growing 15% year on year to billion.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

While our connectivity business is in transition, we continue to build a pipeline of new opportunities powered by emerging tech solutions. Turning to individual, revenues totaled billion, slightly down in part due to weaker legacy offerings. Mobile integration with billion now making up 89% of the segment's revenues. We remain encouraged by the robust adoption of five gs and the continued increase in data usage 90% of our total revenues versus 88% last year, more than offsetting legacy declines. Excluding legacy services, total net service revenues rose by 3%.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Now let's take a closer look at the Home segment. Home revenues grew 4% year on year to R13.4 billion led by strong fiber demand. Fiber revenues reached billion dollars up 7% versus last year and now make up 97% of total home revenues. Subscriber momentum remains strong with 169,000 net fiber adds in the first half, over three times higher than last year's 50,000 net adds. This growth reflects the impact of our accelerated Port Rollout program.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

We continue to lead in ARPU and churn. ARPU held steady at fourteen eighty five for the semester, the highest in the industry. Churn improved quarter on quarter, a testament to network reliability and brand strength. Our bundled offerings also continued to resonate, while over 80% of new subscribers opted for higher value points based at twelve ninety nine and above. These integrated broadband mobile and content bundles help drive customer stickiness and support revenues.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Enterprise revenues for the first half reached billion dollars slightly down by 1% from last year due to known headwinds. This includes the full impact of loss of connectivity as well as lower public sector deal closures tied to the main elections and leadership changes in government agencies. We expect these delayed awards to be booked in the second half. Corporate data and ICT remained stable at billion dollars and now account for 74% of total enterprise revenues. ICT continues to be a bright spot with segment revenues up 15% year on year.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Data center colocation grew by 36%, while cybersecurity services expanded by 24%. Other growth areas include fiber, up 4% year on year SD WAN, up 19% as demand for secure flexible enterprise connectivity continues to rise. We also saw meaningful traction from Asia Direct Cable, which supported high bandwidth deal closures with hyperscalers and carriers in the second quarter. While connectivity revenues are in transitional phase, our broader enterprise business remains resilient, supported by advanced digital solutions and a growing customer pipeline. In April, PLDT through its data center arm, VITRO, inaugurated VITRO Santa Rosa, the country's first operational AI ready hyperscale facility and the largest in our portfolio.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

This rated three certified mega facility delivers 50 megawatts of power capacity and houses over 4,500 trucks built to meet the stringent requirements of enterprises, hyperscalers, the public sector and AI workloads. The facility now hosts live NVIDIA GPUs powering EPLDT's AI solutions, giving Philippine enterprises across to on demand, high performance AI computing without the heavy capital cost of building their own infra. As the country's first true AI enabler, BITRO offers low latency and the computing skills needed for enterprise to innovate and compete. VITRO continues to deliver strong growth with co locations revenues up 36% in the first half, driven by a 19% increase in RAC deployments across our data center network. With VITRO Santa Rosa and our broader ecosystem, PLDT is building the infra backbone to position The Philippines as a regional hub for digital services and AI innovation.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Individual revenues reached billion for the first half, down one percent from last year, reflecting continued drag from legacy services and a softer second quarter. Mobile data revenues were stable, 37,400,000,000.0, making up 89% of the segment, while Q2 was slightly slower. We continue to see healthy data usage and stickiness from our customer base. ARPU have remained broadly stable despite competitive pressures, thanks to our hyper personalized offers that match customer needs while helping us manage marketing costs more efficiently. Total mobile data traffic grew 5% year on year to 2,766 petabytes supported by the continued rise in five gs adoption.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Five gs traffic surged 84% versus last year and five gs lost devices now make up 70% of our base, up from 11% a year ago. This reflects network improvements and the impact of affordable five gs device offers. Another bright spot is fixed wireless. With the introduction of our new five gs modem, we saw revenues from this segment growing 12% year on year, driven by the strength and reliability of our five gs network, especially in areas where fiber is not yet available. We remain focused on giving customers the best experience, not only in network quality, but also in how we design products that match their preferences and needs.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

This approach allow us to maintain ARPU, spur demand and increase loyalty. Innovations remain a key lever as we took shape the next phase of growth. To share more about our latest digital initiatives targeting younger Filipinos, I'd like to turn it over to our smart COO, Mr. Boy Martinez.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

Hi. After months of hard work by our internal teams and technology partners, it is my pleasure to present to you a first the first of series of innovations that we've been partnered. Mobile service called Kik. Kik is a Philippines first and only app based mobile service that offers a personalized digital telco experience. Kik is also one of the first in the world to offer such groundbreaking experience.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

Kik is our ode to the Gen Z market. The Gen Z between 19 to 20 years old is this young generation redefining how they live, share and stay connected. They are disruptors and we've seen their influence and power in the results of our latest Philippine elections. The rebellious yet authentic nature, their ability to know exactly when to swipe left or to double that up, pick up a generation that will never compromise freedom and control. With this in mind, we have built Kick, a mobile experience that gives Gen Z complete freedom and flexibility to personalize and control their mobile journey on their own terms.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

With the Kick app, users can build their own plan, choose their own data allocation, choose their call and text inclusions, choose their numbers, choose their validity period, and more, unlocking a very personalized experience for KenCs. It's my pride to show you our television commercial that was launched last Sunday.

Rules, we make them.

Introducing a groundbreaking Digiflex mobile experience, Kick Mobile. Download the Kick app, choose your number, activate the eSIM, and own the country's first ever customizable mobile experience. Stay personalized for network priorities and customize all you want because the real flex is when everything is built to your rules. Kick Mobile, our way, our rules.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

Thank you. There will be more innovations that we will be introducing. In fact, the ink hasn't even dried up on this innovation that we launched last Sunday. We'll be launching another one this coming Monday. So stay tuned.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Thanks, Boyd. As we continue to innovate on the product side, we're also staying focused on disciplined cost management. Now let me walk you through our operating expenses. Total cash open subsidies and provisions for the first half came in at PHP41.6 billion, down PHP1.4 billion or 3% from the same period last year. Grating it down, compensation and benefits excluding MRP declined by million dollars or 8% helped by ongoing rightsizing efforts.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Selling and promotions were down 22%, reflecting better campaign targeting and improved spend efficiency. Subsidies fell 21%, mainly due to lower device issuance and better control on subsidy per unit. On the other hand, repairs and maintenance rose by 4% to 15,600,000,000.0, driven by network expansion and new site rollouts. Overall, the 3% year on year reduction in cash operating expenses highlights our ongoing efforts to optimize spend while ensuring support for growth areas like fiber, mobile data, enterprise ICT and digital innovations. For the first half, consolidated EBITDA reached billion, up 3% year on year, despite flattish top line growth and known headwinds.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

This reflects the resilience of our business model with earnings supported by a stronger mix of fiber, ICT and personalized mobile offers. This growth was driven mainly by lower OpEx with total cash OpEx down by 1,400,000,000.0 or 3% year on year. Our EBITDA margin held steady at 52%, underscoring our ability to defend profitability in a competitive market. This stability gives us a strong platform heading into the second half, where we expect additional upside from enterprise deal closures and traction from new product launches. Telco core income for the first half came in at million dollars slightly lower year on year as higher depreciation and financing costs weighing on the results.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

That said, a clear bright spot is Maya, which delivered $4.00 $6,000,000 in core income, its first profitable semester and then a meaningful turnaround from a loss last year. Maya has now cemented its position as the largest digital bank and merchant acquirer in the country. Its gamified all in one ecosystem continues to attract, retain, grow users, creating a profitable and sustainable financial platform that is now materially contributing to PLDT's core income now and moving forward. Including Maya's contribution, consolidated core income rose to $17,600,000,000 up 1% versus the same period last year. Reported income was slightly lower at AR18.1 billion dollars mainly reflecting lower net ForEx and derivative gains.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

We'll share more on Maya's performance and growth momentum in a dedicated section later in this presentation. Now let's move on to CapEx and our debt profile. CapEx for the 2025 stood at billion dollars We're now guiding full year CapEx of about R63 billion lower than our original guidance of 68,000,000,000 to $73,000,000,000 This reduction is not due to scaling back our efforts, but rather the result of more favorable pricing and negotiated terms with vendors and suppliers. We remain focused on network quality and expansion with continued momentum in new site rollouts, LTE and five gs upgrades, fiber port builds and investment in submarine cables and AI infra. We're also investing in AI ready data center and upgrades that improve service quality and long term efficiency.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

OpEx intensity for the first half declined to 26%, in line with our plan to bring down the ratio down and support stronger free cash flow. As of June, our net debt stood at 2 and 82,600,000,000.0 with a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.57x. Our interest cover remains healthy at 3.52x, giving us ample headroom to manage debt service. We've continued to manage maturities proactively with 55% of our debt maturing beyond 2030 and only 5% maturing in 2025. U.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

S. Dollar denominated debt is modest at 13% with only 5% unhedged. Our overall debt portfolio remains diversified with a balanced mix of fixed and floating rates and an average tenure of six point four years. We remain investment grade rated by both S and P and Moody's, underscoring confidence in our fundamentals and risk profile. We maintain our guidance of returning to positive free cash flow by 2026 and are working toward our target net debt to EBITDA ratio of two point zero times over a medium term.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

The Board declared an interim cash dividend of 48 per share earlier today, in line with our regular payout policy of 60% of Telco core income. This corresponds to a Telco core earnings per share of 80 for the first half and reflects our commitment to stable shareholders' return while managing leverage. Based on PLDT's closing share price as of June 30, the twelve month trailing yield stands at about 8%. Now let me discuss Maya, the fintech rather the number one fintech ecosystem in The Philippines comprising of Maya, the leading digital bank and Maya Philippines, the top omnichannel payment processor. What makes Maya unique?

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

It is fully integrated platform that unites digital payments, banking and lending for both consumer and businesses. This creates a powerful flywheel, more user drive more transaction, generating richer insights, enabling better product adoption and ultimately delivering scale and profitability. These strong networks effects are firmly established across both consumer and business segments. Next. Maya remains The Philippines' number one digital bank and leading payment profit for inbound, ring and QR merchant payments.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

As of June 2025, Maya had 8,200,000 barrels of customers, 2,100,000 borrowers, 50,400,000,000.0 in deposit and $150,000,000,000 in total loans disbursed since inception. In 2025, Mayank posted its second consecutive quarter of sustainable profitability with million in net income, a growth of 60% over the 2025. Now let me now break down Maya's banking performance. Maya's deposit rose to $15,400,000,000 by June, up 54% year on year, showing sustained growth and stronger customer trust. Loan disbursement hit $32,000,000,000 in Q2, up 147% year on year, bringing total life to date dispersal to billion dollars across consumer loans, MSME loans and partner led loan channeling.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Outstanding loans grew to billion dollars raising LDR to 49% and boosting net interest margin to 20.2%. NPL inch up to 5.2% with new products and services, but these remain healthy. Maya also expected to stabilize as the portfolio matures. In summary, Maya is unlocking the full value of its platform by making consumer and merchant ecosystems. Maya recently launched the Maya Black Credit Card, a premium lifestyle card and the Maya Black Preferred Rewards program, giving cardholders up to 10 times rewards within the ecosystem.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Maya remains the only digital bank in The Philippines issuing credit cards with over 230,000 issued since August 2024, many to first time users. Maya is also expanding credit access to partners like Pepsi, a la One Hand, in a sports strategic alliance such as the Landersco branded card and Pulse Mabuay Miles integration. With its ecosystem firing all cylinders, Maya is setting the pace for future of digital finance in The Philippines. Now allow me to cite a few sustainability highlights during the quarter. We and Libyan Smart signed agreements with Empower to source additional renewable energy for operations.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

This will result not only in cost savings, but also support our decarbonization road map. PLDT's progress in the area of sustainability is manifested in several recognitions. PLBT was again included in the FTSE good index, where our score was higher than the telecom industry, the mobile sub center and country averages. Its 2,000,000,000 social loan was cited as the social infra deal of the year by the asset in 2025 in the Asian region category. During the quarter, PLDT submitted its communication on progress, which affirmed its commitment to the United Nations Global Compact's 10 Principles on Human Rights, Labor, Environment and Anticorruption.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

The PLETC team was named the overall winner of the UNGC Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals and will be the filled in submission to the UNGC Leaders Summit in New York come September. More details of our initiatives can be found in the sustainability section of this presentation. Now that concludes our prepared remarks for the first half of twenty twenty five. We appreciate your continued interest and support, and we'd be happy to open the floor for your questions. Thank you.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Danny and Boy, and for all the valuable insights and growth initiatives as well as key developments that you've shared across our business units. As you've seen today, despite some near term challenges, we remain confident in our market position supported by our strong operational fundamentals, strategic investments in digital infrastructure, and promising growth in Maya. Now we'd like to open the floor to your questions. You may submit your questions via the Q and A panel. Or if you wish, you may also raise your hand as well and you can unmute your mic.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Looks like we have, Arthur Pineda of Citi, with a question here. Go ahead, Arthur. I'll unmute you right now.

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Yeah. Two questions, please. Firstly, on mobile.

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

I'm just wondering what's driving the softness in service rep Sorry. You hear me?

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

The volume here in the room. If you could just wait one moment.

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

Is is this better?

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Yes. We can hear you a little bit better.

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

Okay. Sorry. Yeah. Two questions, please. Firstly, on mobile.

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

I'm just wondering what's driving the softness in trends for wireless revenues. I mean, you look at the revenues down and it's down slightly on a Q on Q basis, but 1Q was saddled with a lot of work and school outages. Why aren't we seeing the uplift in revenues? And any guidance into the third quarter with regard to these trends? Second question I had is with regard to regulation. Can we get an update on the Connectatum Cranoe Bill?

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

Is there a deadline for the president to sign this or amend or return to congress? How do you see this as playing out? Thank you.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Arthur. I guess we can take the first question on mobile.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

Arthur, may I just ask you to speak a little bit slowly so I can get your the first part of your question?

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

What about the softness in mobile trends? So quarter to quarter, it looks like there was some softness. First quarter did have some challenges regarding mobility. So he was asking if you had similar effects and also your outlook for the third quarter. Okay.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

Thank you. Well, the dip is a normal fluctuation. We see that as normal fluctuation and we expect it to go right back up. And more importantly, in the second half, where our elevations sit, we expect to have a better outlook in the second half. And I guess that just outlines our view.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

First time around that we met Arthur, I remember you asked me what I would do differently. The most important thing that I'd like to outline here is, although Smart is a tech company, we are also a consumer centric company. And as a consumer centric company, we aim to therefore delight the customer. Delighting the customer is based on the innovations that we have. And the innovations, each innovation is going to deliver value for money.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

That value for money is going to be the driver of how we will get the revenues up and how we will do market repair.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, sir. The second question on Connectabin Pinoy.

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

The the first question is when will it become a law. Right?

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Any deadlines for the president?

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

Any deadline. Well, by August 24, if the president has not labeled the law, it will become a law by the passage of time. And what's the other question? That's it.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Do you have any follow-up questions on Conectady Nyarthur or just the deadline?

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

I'm just wondering how you see this. Will there be any amendments which could take place?

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

Do you just see this as passing through to law? Or do you think it's likely going to stall?

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

Well, our hope is the President will return this, will veto the law and allow the congress to enact a law, enact a bill that will replace it in consultation with stakeholders, including the telcos. And we were heartened by the fact that the office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs sent a letter to SMART requesting the opinion or the position of SMART with respect to the bill, whether or not the President should speak to the bill or approve the bill and sign it into law. But up to now, we don't know where what will be the end decision in this matter. But if in the event that the president signs it into law or allows it to lapse into law, then we have to be the Astelco, we'll have to assert our right and our our issues and bring our issues to the before the Supreme Court. We believe that there are several unconstitutional issues that's contained in the bill, including the discriminatory treatment in favor of data transmission providers and satellite providers.

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

Because the bill allows data transmission providers and satellite providers to use spectrum and without any franchise. And in that respect, the bill is also unconstitutional because it contains more than one subject. The rule in The Philippines in most in most democratic countries is a bill can only contain one subject. This bill contains three subjects. One, open access.

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

Number two, spectrum, allocation of spectrum or and recall of spectrum. And third, enjoyment of spectrum are not operating without a franchise. So we will raise those issues. The other but the most important point in this is the the bill goes against what the world basically has implemented as open access. The standard for open access for the ability of data transmission providers to access the assets of telcos is very is very broad.

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

It's as long as it's necessary, then they will have the right to access. Whereas open access has adopted in other countries a very strict standard, which is the asset must be indispensable and must be essential for the provisional services of the data transmission providers. It's like I I like to need to write away. If there is if the access to the asset is necessary is a necessary right away for the provision of the services, then so. Then that is a fair access. But if it is an access which allows them to have a basically, access to all our assets and, basically, they can conduct a business without building their own infrastructure, then that's almost confiscated. Because our asset our assets are being accessed, and the law is requiring us to provide access to our assets that will be used by a private sector.

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

It's not even for public use. So on that in that score, it is contributory, and we're not even allowed to basically negotiate the terms of the access. So and when you have that situation, when the law where the law is was intended to provide for the additional build of infrastructure in The Philippines for data transmission providers. But the law built imposed an an obligation to build infrastructure on the data transmission providers. Instead, they are given the right to access all our assets.

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

So it's like a free freeloader situation. No? And when that happens, who will suffer? Our our subscribers will suffer, and there will be a disincentive to build because you know how expensive it is to build. But as we build, we are not given the assurance that we will have exclusively a use of the assets that we're building.

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

And the signal of the law is the data transmission providers will have access over the assets that we will build. So it's a disincentive tool build further to improve the infrastructure of telcos in The Philippines. And but the other most important point here is under the constitution, the state has the ability, has the power and the right to take over cities of entities of businesses that are engaged in public that are public utilities or engaged in or whose business are reviewed with public or national interest. That one will not be available. Two, for satellite providers because the bill allows satellite providers to get a spectrum and to operate without any franchise.

[Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary at PLDT]

So satellite providers are physically outside of the physical jurisdiction of the Philippine government. And so in our case, if the Philippine government needs our assets, to take over our operations in order to ensure to ensure that national security is protected, for example, to block some communication, they can just knock on our doors and send the police and take over. In the case of satellite providers that are that are given spectrum and are operating without any franchise from the government, that's not possible. And that is depriving the state of the power to protect itself. So those are the some of the unconstitutional points that we will raise if the law is if the bill is passed into law.

[Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi]

Understood. Thank you very much.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, attorney Maba. We have another question here from Manuel of Metro Bank. Can you share some guidance regarding what we can expect from refinancing activities for the maturing debt? Do we expect any upticks in our rates? Perhaps Leo, our Treasurer can take this.

[Leo Posadas, SVP & Treasurer at PLDT]

Hi. Thank you for the question. So currently, interest rates are still at high levels. We compared to a few years back when we appealed to our maturing debts. So as an indication, as of June, the cost of our debt is approximately 12 to 12 Now at BWD, as we refinanced them, the interest rates are high, still at higher levels right now than benchmark rates.

[Leo Posadas, SVP & Treasurer at PLDT]

But what we have done is that we've negotiated for the spreads to contract a bit. So from a high, let's say, five to 100 basis points to today's four to 60 basis points. Now aside from that, in order address also the high interest rate environment, we are borrowing long term facilities with floating rate structured pricing the shorter end of the curve. Now this is also to take advantage of declining interest rates following the easing of central banks. So while they may be a little bit higher now, there is potential in the way we structured our refinancing facilities of floating rates to the shorter end that will give us the ability to also enjoy as interest rates go down.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Leo. All right. Another question that we have here is in regards to our five gs cities. Any updates on five gs cities after the successful launch in BGC? Are there additional cities slated for this, and what can we expect in this coming year?

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

Oh, yes. Glad to answer that. Following the success that we have on five g cities, we have decided to start to propagate them in the provinces. So we have selected Iduino, the queen city of the South. That's okay.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

That's the first beneficiary of that. We're putting five gs in Iduino and we're testing it there. And so far, I'm glad to announce that there's been some good acceptance, particularly with respect to the fact that we started that with a sunsetting of our three gs spectrum.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

And as a follow-up to that, since we are talking about five gs, are there any measurable uplifts in terms of ARPU for these five gs cities also from five gs users moving up from LTE?

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

Thank you again for the question. Short answer, ARPU five gs is PHP 300. The ARPU LTE is PHP 101. So definitely be assured that there will be a revenue dip. And we are very, very focused in really implementing our five gs network.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Mr. Boy. This next question I got from quite a number of investors. This is in regards to our asset monetization plans. Are there any updates on the data center sale as well as asset sales on top of the data center?

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Okay. On the data center, we continue to receive inquiries from interested parties, and we also consider other options for data center. So until we have finalized, we will advise you once we have finalized those deals.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

And in regards to copper?

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Yeah. I already mentioned that.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Okay. So we'll for cover, we will announce Right. So it's an ongoing. Right?

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

To be one of the priorities.

[Leo Posadas, SVP & Treasurer at PLDT]

Maybe I can give them

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

an update on the asset monetization program on our legacy assets. We've created a robust program to be able to monetize all our legacy assets. We're beginning with our copper. That is now under negotiations. And so I don't think I can disclose generally the price and how much we're going to get.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

But suffice it to say that we believe that we will get a substantial amount for our copper. But over and above that, there is a full program on being able to monetize our other legacy assets. For example, we are starting to shut down three gs. There will be a lot of equipment that is related to three gs, which we will also now start to monetize. And then eventually, all our other legacy assets, we will start to monetize.

[Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications at PLDT]

We have a program for that whole ecosystem of monetizing legacy assets.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Bhaj. This next question is, for Home business. This is in regards to, prepaid. So it looks like there was some uplift in the press release regarding take up on prepaid. Can you give us more color on your plans and how this fits in your portfolio?

[John Gregory Palanca, SVP & Head - Consumer Business Home at PLDT]

UNIDENTIFIED Yeah. Thank you. Well, prepaid is our strategic entry point into an emerging market that is of price sensitive households as well as first time fiber users. We do not see prepaid as cannibalizing postpaid. An emerging customer base is there for those households that are hesitant to a monthly commitment or never tried fiber and are still using older or slower technologies.

[John Gregory Palanca, SVP & Head - Consumer Business Home at PLDT]

Prepaid is the perfect way to onboard these customers. And our growth driver in the next six months of the year will come from these emerging well, it will come from two places. It's from deepening our penetration in areas where we have coverage. And secondly, it's entering into these emerging markets consisting of price sensitive households as well as first line fiber users. Thank

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

you, John. I'd also like to recognize the presence of our Chairman and CEO, Mr. Mani Di Fangivina. So if you have any questions, please feel free to put them through the queue through the q and a box here in the Teams meeting. Also, you may send it to me via Viber, or you may raise your hand as well.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

This next question is for enterprise. Enterprise revenues declined 1% year on year. That's despite the 15% growth in ICT. You mentioned that there were some delays due to the elections and the pogos. Do you anticipate return to growth overall in the second half?

[Blums Pineda, SVP & Head - Enterprise Business Group at PLDT]

Yes. Thanks for the question. Yes, there were definitely on the public sector side, especially as you can imagine in local government, some of those fields were sliding because of the May elections and then waiting for any new elected officials to be announced. And on the national government agency as well as you will remember there was a loyalty check etcetera. So while we had some close deals substantially on the national government agency side in the first half, Some of them did slide. I think it was reported in the news that PLDP won an award for the emergency nine eleven services. It's a national program announced by the President in the sauna.

[Blums Pineda, SVP & Head - Enterprise Business Group at PLDT]

So we're waiting for the notice to proceed on that, but we're pleased. I think that's a marker of things to come on that sector. Similarly with private sector, same thing, I think. So we're pushing hard on these things and hoping that it will impact our results positively in the second half.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Blans. And as a follow-up to that, regarding the new services from PSR, regarding GPU as a service, any color regarding how early demand is shaping up?

[Victor S. Genuino, President & CEO - ePLDT and VITRO at PLDT]

Thank you for that question. Vito Santarosa remains the premier data center hub of The Philippines today, a five hectare site, 50 megawatts in terms of capacity, R4500. And it is the only AI ready data center in The Philippines today. We are taking full advantage of that. We are the first company in The Philippines to actually bring in NVIDIA GPU servers.

[Victor S. Genuino, President & CEO - ePLDT and VITRO at PLDT]

And this is meant to address the growing AI demand that we see in the enterprise space today. Customers now are moving from use cases to actual deployment of AI, and we are capitalizing on that demand that's coming in. So we're happy to be the digital insta provider for AI in The Philippines today.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Biboy. Also, I'd like to let everyone know that we also have Ayush Junjunwala of Maya. He is the CIO of Maya. So if there are any Maya related questions from the group, you may also post those questions here. Again, if there are any questions, you may post them in the Q and A box or you may raise your hand.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

It looks like we have a question from Derek of CLSA. Go ahead, Derek.

[Derek Hung, MD – Head of Transaction Management at CITIC CLSA]

Hi. Thanks everyone for the call. So I have a I do have questions on Maya. I noticed that NIMs increased to 20%. Is it fair to say that the credit card rates have been driving this improvement?

[Derek Hung, MD – Head of Transaction Management at CITIC CLSA]

And if that's the case, is it also driving the uptick in NPLs for the period? And what could be the normalized NPLs? Then still in Maya, is it possible for you to share the split in net income between banking and merchant acquiring?

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

Derek. Thanks for those questions. So partly correct. The overall growth in NIMs has not just been because of increasing NIMs for credit card. Of course, that's a factor.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

We have launched credit card very recently. We have scaled up personal loans, which was launched late last year. So the continued growth of these two businesses, in particular, as they're longer tenure products, will continue to have some near term adverse impact on NPLs, but we expect those to stabilize relatively quickly. I think NIMs continue to increase as we increased our LDRs, and we'll continue to drive those up. So, LDRs are driving up individual product names are improving.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

And so, these two factors are going to continue to drive the NIMs up. I think for NPLs, continued if you see, we are quite focused on managing the risk of the business, risk of the portfolio. We take great measures in making sure that the risk profile is acceptable. And so, you can see that NIMs have only inched up slightly. And I think we should expect these levels maybe marginally up from these levels, but within the year or so, it should start to stabilize a bit more.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

So that's what I can sort of talk about NIMs and NPLs. I don't think we can split out at this stage much more on the P and L. But you do get to see more robust financials in the Maya Bank, which should come out soon. And so it's effectively we do announce we do release the consolidated net income. So you'll be able to see the difference between the two businesses.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

Just to remind you that the payments business is not just acquiring. It includes all payment related services. So that will include acquiring, which is obviously one the largest business, but also consumer payments, which is consumer wallet and any other transactional revenue on the wallet. Thank

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Ayush. And we have a question from Ziwei of Macquarie. Is there going to be any guidance on revenue and margins for the 2025? K.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

Guidance on the revenues. Another pick.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Perhaps you can share something else perhaps maybe on on core income.

[Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer at PLDT]

We're we're still trying to get the core income of last year. So but we're slightly behind right now, but we're trying to hit the core income that we had last year.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Can't we will be able to provide more than that at this time as as we continue to to navigate the business, but we do wish to maintain our profitability, of course, and then hopefully, shoot for a higher rate. Okay. Any other questions, for the group as well as for Maya? This question here is for Home, regarding innovation. So there are some innovations coming from the mobile side of things.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Can you talk about innovations that you are pursuing for the Home Fiber business?

[John Gregory Palanca, SVP & Head - Consumer Business Home at PLDT]

Thank you, Jingda. Yes, we have been looking at a lot of, I guess, value added content. But the initial mission for innovation is to make PLDT the digital hub of every home. So what does that mean? So aside from connectivity, we are looking at we already have partnered with the big names in entertainment like Netflix, Max.

[John Gregory Palanca, SVP & Head - Consumer Business Home at PLDT]

We've partnered with smartphone vendors like TP Link and Yufi. Very soon, we will be partnering with a big name in the electronic gaming industry and eSports and console gaming. That will be launched very shortly. We are also looking at partnering with MWELL in order to provide health from the home. So these are the few things.

[John Gregory Palanca, SVP & Head - Consumer Business Home at PLDT]

We are the Smart Home and IoT platform for every home to ensure that we are able to provide this integrated service to the home. Furthermore, there is still a market for connectivity and you will start you will be seeing in the market very soon a no frills brand that we have launched. This should also help bring in a break into the emerging markets. And we hope to capture this incrementally. Again, we do not see these emerging markets of price sensitive households or first time users To cannibalize postpaid, our postpaid proposition remains very strong.

[John Gregory Palanca, SVP & Head - Consumer Business Home at PLDT]

Our ARPU has held up despite the fact that we have entered these markets beginning in the last quarter of last year and booming in the first and second quarter of this year. So this is a very strong indication that even lower ARPU subscribers once they're in and they determine their data usage do tend to come back and upgrade their subscriptions to faster speeds or add more content, which is helping us preserve our ARPU. So in short, I guess that being said, it's very important that this making the home each and every home in The Philippines a digital hub from PLDT is our mission. And we intend to do that through IoT, through smart home, through entertainment and health among other things. Thank you.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, John. We have a question here for Maya from Niki. Is there a target or optimal loan to deposit ratio for Maya Bank? And the second question, any plans for further capital raising or perhaps even an IPO? What's the time line looking for that?

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

I think for the loan to deposit ratio, we are still reasonably below the industry standards. So, we'll continue to drive those up. I don't think we have a very fixed target at this point in time, but we are still less than 50%. So, there's ample room to continue to grow. We also have an ability to dial up or dial down the deposit growth.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

And so it really depends on the scaling of the lending book that will enable us to maintain a healthy LDR ratios. I think in terms of capital raiseIPO, I mean, we, at the company, continue to remain focused on scaling the business. We are solidly cash flow generative. We are profitable. So, we don't need to raise external capital to continue to drive growth.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

And so that's a good thing. And I think as long as as far as any IPO or any other strategic alternatives are concerned, think we'll let the shareholders decide and take appropriate action at the right time.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Ayush. Okay. Looks like we have just a minute or so left. There are some questions here in the queue. This is a question from Ziwei on Maya.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

So how do you see loan disbursement continuing to grow in the 2025? You're tracking about the same amount of loans made with GCash in the second quarter, Maya 32,000,000,000, GCash 34,000,000,000. Curious to understand where you're driving the loans of loan growth from and whether you are in direct competition with the same market as GE Cash?

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

Yeah. We have a very strong suite of products that we offer now between both consumer and businesses, starting with a MyaEZ credit, which favors a consumer who has never taken a loan before. So, first to credit customers, these are very short term, small ticket loans. Then we have personal loans where we graduate consumers for longer duration, larger ticket sizes. We just launched credit card, we launched Landers credit card last year and we've just launched our own self branded credit card last week.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

So, it's a very robust set of products, credit products for the consumers. And similarly, we have a working capital product for businesses, both for fixed duration as well as for installment loan. So there is no one particular product that is driving all the dispersal. It's a fairly diversified book. It's a fairly diversified dispersal.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

And we'll continue to see escalation across the board and growth across the board. We do focus just in terms of our customer segmentation, we do focus on mass affluent and above customers. We have a very, very millennials, Gen Z focused customer base. And so, that's our continued focus. There are many products that we offer.

[Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya]

We are the only ones, for example, amongst the digital banks or lenders who have a credit card. So, do continue to differentiate and offer products suitable to our customer base.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

Thank you, Ayush. K. It looks like that's about all the time that we have for today. So that concludes today's briefing, and I'd like to thank everybody for their time and continued support of of PLDT. But before we end the meeting, perhaps I'd like to invite our Chairman and VP if he has any closing remarks.

[Manuel Pangilinan, CEO, President & Chairman at PLDT]

Thank you for joining us this afternoon. And when this when we announced our results September. Right? So we should see you in September with the third quarter results. Thank you on November. Yes.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

See you November. November. Alright. Thank you, everyone. If have any other questions that you weren't able to ask today, please feel free to send them over.

[Marseille Nograles, Head - IR at PLDT]

I'd be happy to get them by email. Thank you. Have a great day.

[Manuel Pangilinan, CEO, President & Chairman at PLDT]

Bye bye. Thank you.

[John Gregory Palanca, SVP & Head - Consumer Business Home at PLDT]

Thank you, everyone.

Participants

Executives

• Marseille Nograles, Head - IR
• Danny Yu, Senior VP, CFO & Chief Risk Management Officer
• Anastacio Martirez, COO - Smart Communications
• Marilyn Victorio-Aquino, SVP - Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, and Corporate Secretary
• Leo Posadas, SVP & Treasurer
• John Gregory Palanca, SVP & Head - Consumer Business Home
• Blums Pineda, SVP & Head - Enterprise Business Group
• Victor S. Genuino, President & CEO - ePLDT and VITRO
• Manuel Pangilinan, CEO, President & Chairman

Analysts

• Arthur Pineda, Head of Asia Pacific Telecoms & Singapore Research at Citi
• Derek Hung, MD – Head of Transaction Management at CITIC CLSA
• Aayush Jhunjhunwala, Chief Investment Officer at Maya