{"id":327213,"date":"2024-03-22T00:38:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T16:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinoyinvestor.com\/smartinvestor\/?p=327213"},"modified":"2024-03-22T00:38:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T16:38:54","slug":"stock-in-focus-pldt-inc-tel-22-march-2024-by-regina-capital-development-corp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinoyinvestor.com\/smartinvestor\/stock-in-focus-pldt-inc-tel-22-march-2024-by-regina-capital-development-corp\/","title":{"rendered":"Stock in Focus: PLDT, Inc. (TEL) – 22 March 2024 by Regina Capital Development Corp."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary of Broker’s Recommendation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Stock Code<\/strong><\/td>TEL<\/td><\/tr>
Company Name<\/strong><\/td>PLDT, Inc. (TEL)<\/td><\/tr>
Broker<\/strong><\/td>Regina Capital Development Corp.<\/td><\/tr>
Opinion Issued on<\/strong><\/td>22 March 2024<\/td><\/tr>
Recommendation<\/strong><\/td>Buy<\/td><\/tr>
1-Year Target Price<\/strong><\/td>PHP 1,760.00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We reiterate our BUY rating on TEL with a Target Price of P1,760 with an upside of +35.38% as the company continues to register growth on its fiber-based business. Dividend yields are also attractive in the high single digits with guidance remaining at 60% of core net income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Analysis and Opinion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PLDT Inc. (TEL)’s Core Net Income (NI) rose by +7.58% year-on-year (y\/y) to P8.27 billion in the 4th quarter (4Q) 2023 and by +3.12% y\/y to P201.83 billion in 2023. The rise comes as we continue to see stable high single-digit growth from fiber-based revenues. Reported net income for 2023 came in higher by +153.83% y\/y to P26.61 billion as the base year included high accelerated depreciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service revenues grew by +4.94% y\/y to P51.08 billion and rose by +3.32% y\/y to P201.83 billion for 2023. Fiber ended the year with a total subscriber count of 3.2 million, 234k net adds for the year. Fiber-based revenues rose by +9% y\/y to P53 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home remained relatively flat, recording a decline of -1% in 4Q23 to P15.1 billion and a rise of +1% to P60.4 billion for 2023. Despite fiber-based revenues rising by roughly +7% y\/y to P13.7 billion in 4Q 2023, growth remain muted for the Home business due to weakness in fixed wireless and legacy business which includes voice and data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company continues to trial a prepaid fiber service. However, the company has been very cautious in deploying this service unlike one of its competitors which has made prepaid fiber available to all. Prepaid fiber would be targeting mostly areas with excess capacity and more price-sensitive groups to avoid cannibalization of higher-tiered plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losses from Maya has significantly declined, with TEL expecting to break even by the 4th quarter (4Q) 2024. Capital expenditures would settle lower for 2024, with management setting guidance at P75-78 billion. This figure is still significantly high compared to other telco players as capex will still contain parts of the budget overrun, to last until 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check how many brokers recommend this stock<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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All Stock Rankings<\/a><\/blockquote>