MANILA - Shares of DITO CME Holdings plunged 25 percent on Wednesday ending at P9 per share from a previous close of P12, two days after DITO Telecommunity finally rolled out commercial services.

Wednesday’s closing price was also down 55 percent from the company’s all-time high of P19 per share hit on Feb. 23.

DITO CME Holdings is separate and distinct from DITO Telecommunity, but holds an indirect stake in the telco through DITO Holdings.

In November last year, DITO CME, which is owned by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, acquired Udenna CME, which is also owned by Uy, through a share swap deal. The restructuring results in DITO CME indirectly controlling around 60 percent of DITO Telecommunity.

• DITO CME Holdings moves to acquire 3rd telco player via share swap deal

Luis Limlingan, managing director of Regina Capital said the price action today was driven mainly by the news of the share swap price at P6.11 per share, and continued profit-taking after the share hit a high of P19.

Joey Roxas, president of Eagle Equities meanwhile said there were several factors which led to the drop in share prices.

He noted that Uy himself sold DITO CME shares a few weeks ago, and DITO Telecommunity also said that the telco would not make money for at least 2 years.

During the Senate hearing on DITO’s franchise application on Wednesday, DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano said 22,748 people had signed up online for its services after its initial rollout in 15 cities in Visayas and Mindanao.

Tamano said 6,597 of these have phones that are compatible with DITO's network. SIM purchases from partner stores and from other digital channels as of March 9, meanwhile, totaled 7,586.

Roxas added that DITO CME's disclosure on Tuesday confirming that it was issuing 11.2 billion shares to Udenna "was the last straw."

• DITO now available in Visayas, Mindanao; will be in NCR 'in a few weeks'
• DITO logs speeds of 507 Mbps for 5G, 85 Mbps for 4G; passes audit: NTC

DITO chief technology officer Rodolfo Santiago meanwhile said the new telco has already covered over 37 percent of the country's population.

The telco's franchise was approved by a Senate panel on Wednesday.

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