After consolidating the financials of DITO Telecommunity Corp (DITO Tel) into its third quarter report, DITO CME Holdings Corp (DITO CME) bled P2.808 billion as operating expenses ballooned in the wake of its telco business’ nationwide rollout.
DITO CME generated P327 million revenues and grossed P287 million profits for the first nine months of the year.
However, the holding firm’s operating expenses shot up to P1.746 billion as a result of the consolidation of DITO Tel and DITO CME reported an operating loss of P1.459 billion.
Inclusive of other charges of P1.340 billion, DITO CME netted P2.808 billion losses.
The increase in operating expenses was mainly due to expenses involving the roll-out of DITO Tel to comply with its licensing commitments.
“DITO Tel is playing the long game,” explained DITO CME President Eric Alberto.
“From day one, we did mention that building a telco from scratch will be capital extensive but the milestones reached in just nine months of operation is encouraging to say the least,” he stressed.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) granted DITO Tel’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) July 2019.
Then the telco went through a couple of technical audits in January and July 2021 and secured a 25-year franchise valid until 2048.
DITO Tel started commercial operations in March this year and has since covered more than 340 cities and municipalities.
The third telco built over 3,300 towers built and mobilized 4,000 more which are scheduled to be online in the next twelve months.
Since March, DITO Tel has already gained four million subscribers.
“Gaining more than four million subscribers in just over 9 months from commercial launch is an affirmation that there is a large segment of the market that would go for an alternative mobile service,” Alberto pointed out.
“DCME is focused on utilizing all its resources to expand its rollout of its brand-new network and robust IT platform, to be able to serve customers better,” he added.
“DITO CME is more than DITO Telecommunity,” DITO CME Chief Operating Officer Donald Lim maintained.
“In the next few months you shall hear more about our digital initiatives in online learning through Luna Academy, customer data analytics through Unalytics and marketing and media solutions through Acuity Global,” he noted.
“These initiatives are now starting to bear fruit and will prove to have strong synergies with DITO Tel.”
Source: Manila Bulletin (https://mb.com.ph/2021/11/16/dito-cme-bleeds-p3b-after-consolidating-telco-biz/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dito-cme-bleeds-p3b-after-consolidating-telco-biz)
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