Leading Philippine-based Telco, PLDT Inc. rolled out its new strategy through sustainable loans to fund its network expansion.
The green loan is worth P4 billion from Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. This is PLDT’s first green loan secured from a local financial institution and the second green loan overall, following its March 2024 acquisition of HSBC Philippines' 1 billion pesos ($17.4 million).
In a financial disclosure last May 9, 2024, the company affirmed that the loan agreement is intended for the sustainable national expansion of PLDT's fiber footprint, which will provide a quick and dependable internet experience made possible by an energy-efficient network while also reducing the digital gap in the nation.
“PLDT’s active participation in the growing domestic market of sustainable finance is a demonstration of our adherence to global best practices in pursuit of sustainable profitability," Danny Yu, chief financial officer and chief risk management officer of PLDT said.
This is also one way to promote environmentally friendly projects by minimizing its carbon emissions which is a concern in today’s advanced society.
This project is aligned with the decarbonization targets of PLDT which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 from the 2019 baseline.
"We are encouraged by the financial community’s support of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ advocacy for sustainable financing as we continue to explore various ways to green our operations. Our partnership with Metrobank reinforces our commitment to broaden our sustainable financing portfolio.” Yu maintained
To date, the biggest telco in the Philippines has more than 60 million mobile subscribers and reported more than 1.1 million cable kilometers of fiber infrastructure with 900,000 kilometers placed locally and 200,000 kilometers laid abroad.
PLDT also reached P9.3 billion core net income for the first three months of 2024, an increase of eight percent or P700 million from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the service revenues boosted the company's top line, rising 5 percent to P52.2 billion from P49.73 billion in the previous year and accounting for 96.3 percent of total revenues at that time while the remaining P2.03 billion, or 3.7 percent, came from the Non-service revenues. DEF
