MANILA -- PLDT is looking to close in on rival Globe Telecom’s lead in the number of mobile subscribers, the telco’s head said on Thursday as the company reported a 10 percent increase in its net income in the first half.

At the telco's 2023 first-half earnings briefing in Makati, PLDT president and CEO Al Panlilio admitted that the Ayala-led telco had 1.2 million more registered SIMs.

• More than 113 million SIMs registered as of July 30: NTC

He said PLDT aims to narrow that gap and even overtake Globe in the mobile business.

"Our objective is to reclaim leadership position in mobile. It's always been neck and neck naman, our job is: how we can grab market share eventually from them," said Panlilio.

Panlilio said there is no timeline for overtaking Globe, but the telco continues to improve their services and expand its reach.

"It’s really hard to say when that exactly will happen. We will continue to push," he said.

PLDT said its net income in the first six months of 2023 reached P18.5 billion, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization also grew by three percent to P52.1 billion.

Telco core income also climbed to P17.6 billion, up 3 percent from the same period in 2022.

The company said data and broadband revenues grew by 4 percent to P77.5 billion, contributing 82 percent of consolidated service revenues.

Meanwhile, PLDT said their fiber-only service revenues grew by 11 percent to P25.7 billion.

PLDT also said the revenues of their business-to-business arm went up 2 percent to P23.2 billion from January to June on the back of the 13 percent growth in their data center and cloud businesses.

The company said its fintech arm Maya now has 2.3 million depositors, with P25 billion in deposits.

Maya now has released over P10 billion in loans since its launch in April 2022, PLDT noted.

• PLDT telco core net income up 5 pct at P8.6 billion in Q1

PLDT Chairman Manuel Pangilinan also said the company is looking at “continuous improvement.”

"A mindset of continuous improvement is one thing we at PLDT need to not only espouse but practice in everything we do," he said.

PLDT officials forecast single digit growth for the full year and capex of about P80 to 85 billion. Telco core income is expected to reach between P33.5 to P34 billion.

--with a report from Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News

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