PLDT Core Income Sustained Momentum, Gaining 2% to P9.1B

PLDT Inc. (“PLDT”) (PSE: TEL) (NYSE: PHI) reported Gross Service Revenues growth of 3% to P54.9 billion, while Net Service Revenues (net of interconnect costs) held steady at P48.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026. Growth in data and broadband helped offset declines in legacy services, supporting stable earnings and margins. Data and broadband revenues totaled P41.9 billion, accounting for 86% of Net Service Revenues versus 85% last year. Excluding legacy drag, Net Service Revenues grew 2%.

​Consolidated EBITDA increased 2% to P28.3 billion, with EBITDA margin steady at 52% for the quarter.

Capital expenditure for the first three months of 2026 amounted to P10 billion, compared to P10.8 billion in the same period last year, as PLDT continued to exercise discipline in capital spending while prioritizing investments that support growth and service quality. This helped support PLDT’s positive free cash flow position as of end-March.

Core Income increased 2% to P9.1 billion, supported by Maya’s continued contribution and gains from asset sales under PLDT’s ongoing asset monetization program. This helped offset higher depreciation and amortization and softer telco operating results, with Telco Core Income at P8.6 billion. Reported Net Income for the first quarter of 2026 stood at P8.9 billion.

Consolidated Net Debt as of end-March 2026 amounted to P282.3 billion, while Net Debt to-EBITDA improved to 2.53x from 2.56x as of end-2025. Gross Debt was at P297.3 billion, with maturities well spread out. U.S. dollar-denominated debt accounted for 14% of Gross Debt, while unhedged debt remained limited at 5% of total debt. PLDT also continued to actively manage its funding costs, working with its bank partners to negotiate more favorable spreads and tenors on benchmark-linked borrowings, helping keep net financing costs steady quarter-on-quarter. PLDT’s credit ratings from Moody’s and S&P Global remain at investment grade.

“We are moving in the right direction,” said Manuel V Pangilinan, PLDT and Smart Chairman and CEO. “The fundamentals are sound, and the momentum is there, but our team is capable of more. We expect more of ourselves, and we intend to deliver.”

Wireless Consumer: 5G and hyper-personalization support resilient data growth

PLDT’s Wireless Consumer segment generated P21.0 billion in revenues in the first quarter of 2026. While consumer spending remained selective during the quarter, Smart’s mobile subscriber base continued to recover, with demand for connectivity reflected in sustained growth in data revenues, healthy usage, and strong momentum in Fixed Wireless Access.

Wireless consumer data revenues (including Fixed Wireless Access or FWA) increased 1% to P19.4 billion, now accounting for 92% of total Wireless Consumer revenues. Mobile data revenues stood at P18.9 billion, supported by continued engagement across video, mobile games, social media, messaging, and app-based usage.

Usage growth remained healthy. Total data traffic rose 10% to 1,583 petabytes in the first three months of 2026, reflecting sustained data engagement across the base and growth of 5G FWA. As of end-March, active data users increased to 44.1 million from 43.2 million as of end-2025, supporting continued scale in data consumption and providing a strong runway for targeted offer design and 5G-led engagement.

FWA is a key growth area, with revenues up 18% year-on-year. This growth was supported by the shift in technology from 4G to 5G FWA, which improved customer experience and enabled better monetization of available 5G capacity. FWA also continues to complement PLDT Home by serving demand for flexible home connectivity, particularly among households seeking prepaid broadband options where fiber is not yet available. This continued shift toward LTE/5G and data-led usage reflects the growing relevance of mobile data as the core of Smart’s Wireless Consumer business.

5G adoption continues to accelerate. 5G device users increased 34% year-on-year to 12.2 million, representing 20% of subscribers. The wider availability of affordable 5G handsets and Smart’s network optimization and targeted rollouts continue to drive the move toward faster, more reliable connectivity and richer digital use cases.

Smart is also sharpening its monetization efforts through more intentional, data-led execution. Hyperpersonalized offers, dynamic pricing, and upsell programs allow Smart to match the right offer to the right customer at the right time, improving relevance, supporting take-up, and helping convert sustained data usage into higher value over time.

Home: Strengthening customer experience and value proposition amid transformation

PLDT Home accelerated its transformation initiatives in the first quarter of 2026 as part of its broader efforts to enhance customer experience and support long-term growth.

This marked a pivotal rollout of cloud-based, AI-ready operational support systems (OSS) aimed at modernizing digital infrastructure, streamlining operations, and strengthening scalability.

Amid this transition, PLDT Home sustained fiber revenues at P14.7 billion, flat year-on year. Total Home revenues came in at P15.0 billion, down by 1% year-on-year, reflecting temporary OSS migration-related constraints, as well as lower legacy revenues. Home subscribers remained at 3.80 million as of end-March 2026.

PLDT Home Fiber ARPU stood at P1,347, impacted by two temporary factors: customer assistance for typhoon-affected subscribers and the aforementioned OSS migration. Churn, however, remained stable at 1.8%, reflecting continued customer loyalty and the resilience of the Home subscriber base.

Amid tensions in the Middle East, and in line with the Philippine Government’s call to provide essential support to Filipinos, PLDT Home enabled free International Direct Dial (IDD) calls, to help subscribers reach loved ones in Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Iran. This initiative supported families in the Philippines who needed to stay connected with loved ones in conflict-affected regions, recording a total of 8,294 minutes from 2,308 calls during the period.

Building on its transformation momentum, PLDT Home continues to enhance its product portfolio to support subscriber growth. This includes Fiber Prepaid services with new load packages and expanded payment partners including Maya, GCash, SM, and Smart loading partners to make affordable internet more accessible to Filipinos.

Beyond connectivity, PLDT Home continues to expand its digital services through its Home Life portfolio, which includes StreamTV+, a premium streaming device developed in collaboration with global technology leaders Sagemcom, Bang & Olufsen, and Dolby, delivering a more immersive home entertainment experience for customers. Complementing this, PLDT Home partnered with TP-Link to launch a Smart Home Starter Kit, enabling customers to adopt smart home security and automation through affordable packages.

Enterprise: Sustaining growth momentum on ICT expansion and network modernization

PLDT’s Enterprise Business reported revenues of P12.4 billion for the first quarter of 2026, a 4% increase year-on-year, supported by sustained demand for ICT and digital infrastructure services, alongside strong Wireless performance.

Growth in the quarter was primarily driven by Corporate Data and ICT, which rose 5% year on year to P9.3 billion, accounting for 75% of Enterprise revenues. This reflects organizations increasingly consolidating toward integrated, managed, and analytics driven platforms to improve efficiency, scalability, and decision-making.

Within ICT, revenues grew 17% year-on-year, supported by strong performance in Managed IT Services, Cloud Services, and Data & AI. Managed IT services and Data and AI recorded year-on-year growth of 79% and 31%, respectively, as more enterprises shifted toward managed and analytics-driven platforms. This trend increases solution stickiness and positions ICT as the primary engine of Enterprise revenue growth.

Data Center revenues grew by 10% year-on-year, boosted by sustained demand for secure, carrier-neutral facilities and the expansion of capacity to address increasing data requirements. Growth was likewise supported by Vitro Santa Rosa’s campaign “Tara Na Sa Biyaheng VITRO Sta Rosa”, which underscored the capabilities of PLDT’s AI-ready hyperscale data center—the Philippines’ first.

The Fixed business remained broadly stable, supported by continued enterprise investments in network modernization. Fiber lines expanded by 6% year-on-year, while SD-WAN lines grew by 17% in the same period, as enterprises upgraded to high-capacity fiber and software-defined networks to support multi-site operations, cloud adoption, and more centralized network management. Together, these trends underscore the demand for scalable and reliable connectivity solutions that enable enterprises to efficiently manage distributed operations and support cloud-based and bandwidth-intensive applications.

The Wireless business expanded by 13%, on account of strong performance by A2P, Bizload and IOT, as Wireless solutions continued to power up messaging aggregators, automate load distribution across companies’ workforce, and optimize operational efficiency.

Overall, the Enterprise segment’s performance in the quarter highlights a structural shift toward ICT-led growth, supported by a solid connectivity backbone across Fixed and Wireless solutions. This integrated approach—combining ICT, Fixed, and Wireless— enables enterprises to operate more seamlessly across locations while strengthening the reliability and scalability of their digital infrastructure.

Looking ahead, the Enterprise business is expected to sustain its momentum through continued expansion of ICT services, ongoing network modernization initiatives, and enhancements in service quality and customer experience. These efforts position the segment to capture evolving enterprise requirements as demand for secure, scalable, and intelligent digital infrastructure continues to grow.

Network: Continued investments to enhance coverage, service quality

The PLDT Group continued investing in its fiber and wireless infrastructure to enhance coverage and service quality across the Philippines. As of end-March 2026, the Group’s fiber network spanned 1.29 million cable kilometers of domestic and international fiber.

As the Group continues to explore innovative solutions to bridge coverage gaps, particularly in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs), PLDT and Smart continued testing direct-to-device satellite-powered mobile connectivity with Lynk Global in Ilocos Region to enable users to send SMS and use apps like WhatsApp even when cell services are unavailable.

Communities like Brgy Subay on Talim Island in Rizal have likewise begun reaping the benefits of PLDT’s deployment of Google’s Taara air laser technology in their area, enriching the day-to-day learning experiences of students and boosting the delivery of local government services to citizens.

PLDT is set to connect thousands of previously unconnected barangays across the country, enabling livelihood, education, digitalized delivery of public service, through strategic coordination with key government agencies and accelerating network deployment nationwide.
 
Maya sustains growth and profitability in Q1 2026

Maya, the leading digital financial services platform in the Philippines, continued to build on its growth and profitability momentum in the first quarter of 2026. Through its integrated platform spanning payments and digital banking, Maya enables consumers to manage money more effectively while supporting businesses with solutions that improve cash flow and access to financing, reinforcing its position as the country’s leading digital bank and merchant acquirer.

During the quarter, Maya continued to deepen its banking, credit, and payments capabilities, leveraging its proprietary platform and AI-first, data-driven underwriting to expand access to responsible financing. Adoption across the Maya consumer app and Maya Business platform remained strong, driven by the continued scaling of integrated payment acceptance, business deposit, and credit solutions.

As of March 2026, Maya’s deposit balance reached P76 billion, up 73% year-on-year, while its loan book stood at P33 billion. Asset quality remained stable, with a gross NPL ratio of 4.9%, while lending performance was supported by a loan-to-deposit ratio of 44% and net interest margin of 17.1%

As a group, Maya also sustained its profitability as the platform continues to scale.

Maya’s efforts continue to be recognized through industry awards, including “Neobank of the Year” and “Best Digital Fraud Protection Experience” from The Asset Triple A Digital Awards 2026, and inclusion in Forbes’ World’s Best Banks 2026.

Beyond financial performance, Maya expanded partnerships to drive financial inclusion, including its collaboration with the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) to extend digital banking and credit access to 1.9 million digital workers, supporting the development of formal credit histories and improving payroll and disbursement systems for business customers.

Sustainability

After consecutive inclusion in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2025 and 2026, PLDT was identified as eligible for potential inclusion in the Dow Jones Best-in-Class (DJ BIC) index. While not included in the final DJ BIC constituents, PLDT remains steadfast in embedding sustainability across its business and advancing its ESG commitments.

To better understand its business impact across ESG areas and identify sustainability related issues most important to its stakeholders, PLDT completed a revalidation of its materiality assessment, identifying Cybersecurity and Data Privacy, Customer Experience, and Customer Welfare as the issues most important to stakeholders.

To combat cybercrimes and online harms, the Group's cybersecurity infrastructure prevented 1.4 billion cyberattacks and disabled 198K mobile numbers involved in phishing, SMShing, and vishing. PLDT and Smart's Child Protection Platform has blocked more than 2.1 million URLs linked to online sexual abuse or exploitation of children since June 2021. The Group also reached over 7,000 individuals through digital empowerment programs and participated in Quezon City's Safer Internet Day.

To help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving service reliability, Smart partnered with independent tower company Edgepoint Infrastructure for tower solarization. Piloting in 20 Smart-leased cell sites, primarily those in off-grid areas, this move is expected to help reduce operating costs related to operating diesel gensets, and ensure more regular power supply from installed solar panels equipped with battery storage.

To promote digital inclusion, PLDT and Smart advanced programs uplifting underserved communities. Through the IDEATe for Livelihood Program, 11 scholars secured employment. The Group also represented the Philippine private sector at a digital agriculture forum in Seoul, showcasing #KonektedForLivelihoods programs that have helped farmers and MSMEs increase incomes by up to 400%.

To ensure organizational alignment of employee KPIs with group wide ESG goals, PLDT and Smart conducted trainings and roadshows covering energy efficiency, decarbonization, circularity, and child protection. These topics are also integrated into the Be Kind. Recycle. program onboarding sessions for customer communities.

To advance sustainable supply chain practices, PLDT participated in HSBC's 3rd Sustainability Forum for suppliers, sharing its own ESG journey and encouraging others to integrate sustainability into their operations.

To champion sustainability among Philippine corporates, PLDT deepened its commitment to the UN Global Compact's local chapter, with its Chief Sustainability Officer elected as Chairperson. PLDT also joined the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment's Leaders for Change Roundtable.

The Group received the following international citations during the quarter:

PLDT was recognized by the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Workforce Disclosure Initiative with a special mention under the Workforce Action category and a shortlist placement for the Best First Time Responder Overall Award at the 2025 WDi Workforce Transparency Awards.

Smart was recognized by GSMA as among mobile operators helping bridge the digital usage gap, highlighting the Digital Farmers Program and eBizNovation programs under its Breaking Barriers campaign.

OUTLOOK
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For 2026, PLDT expects capex to be in the mid-P50 billion range, reflecting disciplined investment. PLDT intends to sustain positive free cash flow and maintain a 60% dividend payout.