PILIPINO Telephone Corp. (Piltel), the country’s third largest cellular operator, on Monday said net income for the three months of the year went up by 24 percent to P2.46 billion on the back of higher revenues and lower expenses.

It said in a statement that total revenues from January to March this year grew 17 percent to P4.2 billion, compared with P3.57 billion for the same period last year. The growth came from the 1.25 million additional subscribers registered during the period. At end-March, Piltel had 11 million subscribers.

It already surpassed the 11.5-million mark in April, it added.

“Piltel has demonstrated outstanding strength thus far in 2008—our net additions of close to 1.8 million for the first four months of the year are already 70 percent of our net additions for the whole of 2007. We will aim to sustain this strong performance for the balance of the year,” said Piltel president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno.

Service revenues grew 24 percent to P3.87 billion, from P3.13 billion in the same period a year ago. Data revenues also increased by 31 percent, from P1.98 billion to P2.59 billion, while voice revenues were up as well by 11 percent, from P1.15 billion to P1.28 billion as a result of higher revenues on local calls.

Expenses, meanwhile, declined by 10 percent, from P586 million to P529 million as cash operating expenses rose by 42 percent, from P225 million in to P320 million, due mainly to higher selling and promotions.

Piltel said it continued to utilize more of television advertising to fortify its brand equity and introduce the latest product offerings.

Piltel said it will declare an interim dividend to its common shareholders keyed off 2008 first half core earnings.      

As this dividend will be a historic first, the board has decided to mark this milestone by paying out approximately 100 percent of Piltel’s core earnings for the first half of 2008.

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FOLLOWING the Congress’s ratification of the affordable-medicines law last week, a health official on Monday estimated access to cheaper medicines will be available by the end of the year.

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PILIPINO Telephone Corp. (Piltel), the country’s third largest cellular operator, on Monday said net income for the three months of the year went up by 24 percent to P2.46 billion on the back of higher revenues and lower expenses.