PLDT Inc. said Thursday it expects a new group of foreign investors for unit Voyager Innovations Inc. in the next four weeks as its digital innovations arm partly contributed to the decline in the telecom company’s net income in the first half.
PLDT chairman and president Manuel Pangilinan said the company signed a non-binding term sheet with a group of foreign investors for the sale of a majority stake in Voyager. He said the term sheet for the transaction was expected to be completed in the next four weeks.
“These are private equity investors and investors that are in the same business as Voyager,” he said.
“It also reduces the quantum of losses we will book moving forward,” Pangilinan said, adding that Voyager contributed a P1.3 billion losses to PLDT in the first half of the year.
PLDT invested between P9 billion and P10 billion in Voyager. PLDT reported a net income of P4.88 billion in the second quarter, down by 58 percent from P11.59 billion in the same period last year.
PLDT’s net profit also dropped 28 percent in the first half to P11.80 billion from P16.56 billion in the same period last year.