PLDT Inc. chairman Manuel Pangilinan on Thursday hinted at stepping down as president and chief executive by 2025.
“I’m still alive. It [selection for new CEO] is ongoing. I have seen two or three candidates. I think in the shorter period because I do not intend to stay in this seat for longer,” Pangilinan said when asked about the search for the new top executive of the company.
“I do hope that by the start of next year, not quite on Jan. 1, we will have a visibility of a CEO position,” he said.
Asked about the quality of the new CEO, Pangilinan said: “Somebody very dissimilar to me.”
Pangilinan stepped down as PLDT’s president and CEO in June 2021 after the appointment of Alfredo Panlilio. He returned to the position in December 2023 after Panlilio quit over health reasons.
PLDT on Thursday reported a 9-percent growth in first-quarter net profit to P9.8 billion from P9.04 billion in the same period last year.
Telco core income, excluding the impact of asset sales and Maya Innovations Holdings, reached P9.3 billion, up 8 percent from the same period last year.
“We continue to squeeze growth out of an industry that seems bound by gravity. That said, our first-quarter results are encouraging. We are determined to break past this gravitational hold,” said Pangilinan.
PLDT’s consolidated service revenues grew 3 percent to P48.7 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Data and broadband revenues rose 5 percent to P40.5 billion and contributed 83 percent to consolidated service revenues.
PLDT’s individual wireless segment posted revenues of P21 billion in the first quarter, higher by 7 percent thabn P19.7 billion in the same period last year.
Mobile data revenues, which now account for 89 percent of total Individual wireless revenues, grew by 11 percent to P18.8 billion.
PLDT Home’s fiber-only service revenues rose 7 percent to P13.7 billion and accounted for 92 percent of total Home revenues of P15 billion.
Total fiber subscribers as of end-March 2024 reached 3.2 million.