Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

OVERSEAS REGULATORY ANNOUNCEMENT

Please refer to the attached disclosure filed by PLDT Inc. ("PLDT"), a major operating associate of First Pacific Company Limited, with the Philippine Stock Exchange, in relation to the SEC Form 17-C and PLDT's press release relating to its unaudited consolidated financial results for the year ended 31 December 2019.

Dated this the 5th day of March, 2020

As at the date of this announcement, the Board of Directors of First Pacific Company Limited comprises the following directors:

Executive Directors:

Manuel V. Pangilinan,

Christopher H. Young,

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer

Non-executive Directors:

Anthoni Salim, Chairman

Benny S. Santoso

Tedy Djuhar

Independent Non-executive Directors:

Prof. Edward K.Y. Chen, GBS, CBE, JP

Margaret Leung Ko May Yee, SBS, JP

Philip Fan Yan Hok

Madeleine Lee Suh Shin

PLDT network investments lift revenues, income in 2019

PLDT first telecoms operator in the world and

the first company in the Philippines to become an alliance member

of the SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board)

PLDT first Philippine telco to join the TCFD

(Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures)

PLDT and Smart are registered as Participants in the UNGC (United Nations Global Compact) -- committed on a global level

Sustainability Program underpins PLDT's long-running CSR

programs

MANILA, Philippines 5th March 2020 -- Enabled by a record-high capital expenditures (capex) in 2019 of P72.9 billion, PLDT significantly raised its service quality levels, particularly in data and digital services, and consequently boosted service revenues to their highest level ever. P61.0 billion capex were spent in 2019 on network and IT expansion and transformation programs, the balance of P11.9 billion for the installation of broadband connections.

"This sustained level of investments in the country's telecommunications infrastructure now totals P257.7 billion in the last five years. But to raise even further our service quality standards and attain unmatched customer experience (CX), PLDT has allocated a larger capex budget of P83.0 billion for 2020. This will allow us to serve better the fast- growing data usage of our customers and continue to provide superior data CX. Of this amount, P64.6 billion are earmarked for network and IT projects, mainly to support the explosive growth in data traffic. In addition, P18.5 billion, inclusive of P5.5 billion carried over from 2019, are to be spent for broadband installations, which are projected to grow strongly in 2020," said Manuel V. Pangilinan, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of PLDT

The improvement in the reach, coverage and quality of PLDT's networks and the data services they deliver were validated by user-based studies undertaken by several international internet analytics firms which found, once again, that Smart and PLDT

Page 1 of 12

provided the fastest fixed and mobile Internet services in the country, as well as having the widest mobile coverage.

The impact of these service improvements on PLDT's financial performance has been strongly positive. As per its financial and operating results for 2019, PLDT's Consolidated Service Revenues (net of interconnection costs) rose 8% to P157.7 billion. This is the highest full year revenue PLDT has attained, surpassing the previous peak of P153.5 billion in 2014.

Consolidated EBITDA grew 22% year-on-year to P83.1 billion, excluding MRP (Manpower Reduction Program) expenses of P3.3 billion, driven by higher service revenues and lower cash operating expenses. The EBITDA margin improved from 45% in 2018 to 52% in 2019.

PLDT's Telco Core Income (which excludes the impact of asset sales and Voyager Innovations) climbed 13% to P27.1 billion, while Reported Net Income (which includes exceptional costs) jumped 19% to P22.5 billion.

In terms of major business units, the Consumer Wireless Group led the way, boosting revenues by 20% to P72.1 billion. The Enterprise Group posted steady growth, increasing revenues by 5% to P39.2 billion, while PLDT Home grew to P37.2 billion, up 3% from the previous year. These three business units combined accounted for 94% of service revenues and registered an 11% revenue growth year-on-year.

Data and broadband services continued to power revenue growth, rising 20% to P105.2 billion and now account for 67% of total revenues.

Consolidated Net Debt amounted to US$3,309 million whilst net-debt-to-EBITDA stood at 2.0x. Gross Debt was US$3,800 million, with maturities well spread out. Only 9% of the Gross Debt was denominated in US dollars and 8% unhedged, taking into account hedges and available US dollar cash allocated for debt. PLDT has maintained its credit ratings at investment grade.

In line with PLDT's dividend policy of paying out 60% of its telco core earnings, a final cash dividend of P39 per share will be paid out on April 3, 2020 to shareholders on record as of March 19, 2020. An interim dividend of P36 per share had been paid in September 2019, bringing total dividends paid for 2019 to P75 per share.

"Despite continuing challenges, 2019 was a productive year, with revenues reaching record levels on the back of robust growth of our consumer wireless business. This was achieved in large part by making the needed investments in our data and IT networks. Moving forward, we shall continue pursuing a focused investment program to further improve our services, and consequently raise the level of customer experience," addedPangilinan.

Page 2 of 12

Building the Country's Digital Backbone

In 2019, PLDT and Smart further strengthened their network advantage. PLDT expanded its fixed network rollout by 15%, reaching 7.2 million homes passed by end- 2019. The total capacity increased 34% to 3.5 million ports, of which about 1.8 million fiber/VVDSL ports were available for new customers.

The total footprint of PLDT's fiber optic network grew 32% to 322,400 kilometers - the country's most extensive digital backbone/transport network infrastructure.

Smart's mobile network further increased its coverage and data service capacity. It increased the number of its LTE or 4G base stations by 51% to about 24,600 and augmented the number of 3G base stations by 19% to 13,800. As a result, Smart's mobile coverage expanded to 94% of the country's population by end-December 2019.

The emphasis on rolling out the 4G/LTE network has been justified by its ability to provide much better internet services. The impact of the 4G rollout has been enhanced by the simultaneous activation of the carrier aggregation feature of LTE -- through which the capacity of up to five LTE base stations are combined to deliver faster data speeds.

Several international internet analytics firms recognized the beneficial results of thesenetwork improvement efforts:

  • Global leader in Internet testing and analysis Ookla cited PLDT and Smart for having the fastest fixed network and fastest wireless network respectively in the

Philippines in its two reports covering the first and second halves of 2019.

  • Smart won the "Best in Test award for 2019" and was cited for having the best

and widest 4G/LTE coverage and the fastest upload and download speeds by umlaut, the global internet benchmarking company formerly known as P3.

  • International mobile data analytics firm Opensignal reported that Smart not only provided the country's best mobile video and fastest data experience but also overtook its competitor in 4G availability in both urban and rural areas.

"Our sustained network improvement efforts over the past several years have given us the crucial advantage - enabling us to offer compelling data service offers that address our customers' passions and pain points. This has powered our current revenue growth and is positioning us well for the future, including our ongoing preparations for 5G," said Alfredo S. Panlilio, Smart President/CEO and PLDT Chief Revenue Officer.

In 2019, Smart conducted several pilot deployments of 5G with various equipment suppliers. It fired up 5G base stations for ongoing pilots in various settings: at PLDT's office in the Makati business district, in an academic setting (within the Ateneo Campus),

Page 3 of 12

in a lifestyle hub (at the Araneta City in Quezon City), and in a smart city setting (Clark City, Pampanga). It also continues to explore various applications and business cases, including e-sports and mobile games. Meantime, PLDT has partnered with Cisco to transform its transport network into a fully automated, all IP, software-defined5G-ready infrastructure.

The GIGA experience powers Consumer Wireless growth

The rapid rise of mobile data usage and revenues was critical to the strong performance of the Consumer Wireless business in 2019. Consumer wireless revenues increased by P11.8 billion or 20% from 2018 to P72.1 billion. The share of mobile data revenues increased from 59% in 2018 to 69%.

This was the product of a massive rise in mobile data traffic which jumped to 1.6 Exabyte

  • double the volume registered in 2018 and four times that of 2017. This was made possible by Smart's improved LTE/3G mobile data service which ably supported the growing data habit of Smart, TNT and Sun customers, and the larger number of LTE and 3G smartphones on the network.

Mobile data usage grew rapidly on the back of Smart's GIGA data service offers that addressed customers growing demand for various internet services. GIGA started in 2018 with video packages that offered free Youtube as well as other popular video services. This was followed in 2019 by other GIGA data packages that bundled mobile games such as Mobile Legends and then later, data packages which bundled social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

All this had a major, positive impact on customer experience. In addition to the awards given by independent internet testing firms, our NPS (Net Promoter Score), a measure of customer satisfaction, saw improvement across all brands in Q4 2019 with Smart up from 50% in Q4 2018 to 60%; TNT up from 54% to 76%, and Sun up from 46% to 75%.

"Moving forward, we aim to further improve the experience of our customers by helping them to shift to LTE handsets and SIMs and by providing increasingly rich GIGA data offers that enable people to effectively address their various life needs all through the mobile phone in their hands," said Jane J. Basas, Senior Vice President for Consumer Individual Wireless Business, Smart Communications.

Smart solutions for Enterprise

The Enterprise Group continued to achieve steady growth, with revenues rising 5% to P39.2 billion. The growth was powered largely by robust demand for broadband data in

Page 4 of 12

fixed line and wireless. Fixed line revenues grew to P28.6 billion, up 3%. The wireless business increased 7% reaching P6.4 billion.

However, ICT services were the fastest growing part of the Enterprise business. PLDT Enterprise's ICT business grew nearly double the market pace at 15%, with revenues hitting P4.3 billion. PLDT continues to have the largest data center rack capacity in the Philippines with 10 VITRO data centers; 5 of which are fully-occupied, with the remaining activated capacity now at 69% utilization. As more companies pivot to digital, the need for business solutions beyond connectivity is becoming even more pressing.

In the last few years, the Enterprise Business group has been building and curating digital services for all kinds of business - micro businesses, SMEs, and large companies. This includes a suite of data center, IoT (Internet of Things), Cloud and Cyber Security offerings that have already started to gain significant traction. All of these services are anchored on business-grade Fiber connectivity.

Foreign companies keen on doing business in the Philippines have also taken notice of the wide range of solutions offered by PLDT Enterprise. ICT revenues from servicing companies in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, US, and more registered 50% year-on-year growth.

"The future growth of the Enterprise business lies in providing relevant solutions that enable companies and organizations to design and execute their own digital pivot. To do that, we continuously adjust our organization so that we can provide the industry and domain expertise that customers expect. In the end, we want to make a positive impact on every single business," said Jovy Hernandez, Senior Vice President for Enterprise of PLDT and Smart.

PLDT HOME gears up for a stronger 2020

PLDT Home grew 3% in 2019, with revenues reaching P37.2 billion. Growth for the full year was held back by its requisite adjustments to the repair and installation processes for fixed line broadband. These changes began to generate a pick-up in new connects and repair work in the Q4 of 2019, which bode well for prospects in 2020.

Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) continued to be PLDT Home's flagship product. But this is now complemented with a refreshed fixed wireless offering, initially for prepaid, which was relaunched in late 2019. The initial response of customers has been very encouraging. A postpaid fixed wireless product is due to be launched in the first half of 2020.

Page 5 of 12

PLDT Home's fixed wireless service runs on the award-winning 4G/LTE network of Smart. It provides a fast, easy-to-install data services, particularly in areas where PLDT's FTTH service is not yet available.

To better position itself for 2020, the PLDT Home team doubled down on optimizing internal processes and systems to address customer experience issues with installation and repair.

"We are putting the valuable lessons learned in 2019 to good use in 2020. This is enabling us to progress steadily towards our goal of delivering the best service levels to our Home customers. Moreover, the addition of fixed wireless broadband to our menu of services gives us a powerful, flexible tool and a full range of broadband products for the home to address customer needs and grow our revenues," said Menardo G. Jimenez, Jr., Senior Vice President, PLDT Home.

Building a Sustainable Future

By building the country's most extensive digital infrastructure, PLDT is making major contributions to the sustainable development of the country. This effort addresses the

9th Sustainable Development Goal defined by the United Nations - Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, which includes developing data networks that provide people accessto the internet and digital services.

In 2019, PLDT further strengthened its sustainability efforts by establishing the PLDT Sustainability Office. The new office has been given the task of helping develop the Group's business operations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in ways that not only ensure its continued success but also help create a sustainable future forthe country.

To pursue this objective, PLDT has joined 3 distinguished global organizations forsustainability:

  • SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board): where PLDT is the first telecoms operator in the world and the first company in the Philippines to become an alliance member.
  • TCFD (Task Force on Climate-relatedFinancial Disclosures): where PLDT is the first Philippine telco to join.
  • UNGC (United Nations Global Compact): where PLDT and Smart are registered as Participants committed on a global level, higher than Signatories limited to local engagement, to integrate principles on environment, human rights, labor and anti-corruption.

Page 6 of 12

Meantime, PLDT has already started to roll out several programs such as carbon offsetting initiatives through reforestation, mangroves conservation, marine protection, &

peatlands protection. For example, PLDT has partnered with the UP Marine Environment and Resources Foundation (MERF) and the Marine Science Institute of the Philippines (UPMSI) to support efforts to regenerate and rehabilitate 24 marine protected areas in various parts of the country that would protect marine life by empowering and capacitating local communities on coastal and marine environment management andhelp curb global warming by enabling these areas to act as effective carbon sinks.

The Group's sustainability program thus provides a strategic framework for its long- running CSR programs in the fields of education, environmental protection, disasterpreparedness, livelihood and sports development.

CONCLUSION

"A key principle of sustainability is the adoption of the long-term view. It is important to keep this in mind as we face the heightened uncertainties caused by unforeseeable developments at home, such as the Taal volcano eruption, and abroad such as the COVID-19outbreak. Under these circumstances, we must stay focused on the essentials, on the factors that provide the foundation for continued growth. Clearly, for PLDT, this means delivering the best quality service to our customers. To achieve thisin these times of rapidly advancing technologies, we must continue investing in our networks and transforming our processes and our people. Through this, we should be able to sustain the strong growth of our consumer wireless business, and also boost therevenues of our equally important Enterprise and Home businesses.

"At this time, given the prevailing uncertainties, it is difficult to provide specific earnings guidance for 2020. We shall provide firm numbers when we have a better view of developments in the coming months. Our dividend policy remains, providing a regularpayout amounting 60% of telco core income," Pangilinan said.

###

Page 7 of 12

PLDT Consolidated

For the Full Year

(Php in mn)

2019

2018*

% Change

Total revenues

169,187

162,914

4%

Service revenues (a)

161,355

152,369

6%

Expenses (b)

129,786

149,141

(13%)

EBITDA (c)

83,111

68,262

22%

EBITDA Margin

52%

46%

Income before Income Tax

32,336

22,815

42%

Provision for Income Tax

9,550

3,842

149%

Net Income - Attributable to Equity

Holders of PLDT

22,521

18,916

19%

Telco Core Income (d)

27,080

24,047

13%

*2018 Includes Voyager, except for EBITDA and Telco Core

  1. Service Revenues, gross of interconnection costs

Service Revenues, gross of interconnection costs

161,355

152,369

6%

Interconnection costs

3,638

5,493

(34%)

Service Revenues, net of interconnection costs

157,717

146,876

7%

  1. Expenses includes Interconnection Costs
  2. EBITDA excluding the MRP expenses booked in FY2019 (P3.3bn) and FY2018 (P1.7bn) and Voyager in FY2018
  3. Net income as adjusted for the net effect of gain/loss on FX, derivative transactions, MRP, accelerated depreciation, asset sales and share in Voyager losses

Page 8 of 12

PLDT INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION

As at December 31, 2019 and 2018

(in million pesos)

2019

2018

ASSETS

Noncurrent Assets

Property and equipment

232,134

195,964

Right-of-use assets

15,890

-

Investments in associates and joint ventures

53,863

55,427

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss

3,369

4,763

Debt instruments at amortized cost - net of current portion

-

150

Investment properties

778

777

Goodwill and intangible assets

67,834

68,583

Deferred income tax assets - net

23,623

27,697

Derivative financial assets - net of current portion

1

140

Prepayments - net of current portion

48,933

23,338

Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income - net of current portion

162

2,749

Contract assets - net of current portion

750

1,083

Other financial assets - net of current portion

1,986

2,275

Other non-financial assets - net of current portion

136

230

Total Noncurrent Assets

449,459

383,176

Current Assets

Cash and cash equivalents

24,369

51,654

Short-term investments

314

1,165

Trade and other receivables

22,436

24,056

Inventories and supplies

3,412

2,878

Current portion of contract assets

1,997

2,185

Current portion of derivative financial assets

41

183

Current portion of debt instruments at amortized cost

150

-

Current portion of prepayments

11,298

8,380

Current portion of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income

2,757

1,604

Current portion of other financial assets

8,086

7,008

Current portion of other non-financial assets

717

461

Total Current Assets

75,577

99,574

TOTAL ASSETS

525,036

482,750

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES

Equity

Non-voting serial preferred stock

360

360

Voting preferred stock

150

150

Common stock

1,093

1,093

Treasury stock

(6,505)

(6,505)

Treasury shares under employee benefit trust

(394)

(854)

Capital in excess of par value

130,321

130,526

Other equity reserves

276

697

Retained earnings

18,063

12,081

Other comprehensive loss

(31,368)

(25,190)

Total Equity Attributable to Equity Holders of PLDT

111,996

112,358

Noncontrolling interests

4,303

4,308

TOTAL EQUITY

116,299

116,666

Page 9 of 12

PLDT INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (continued)

As at December 31, 2019 and 2018

(in million pesos)

2019

2018

Noncurrent Liabilities

Interest-bearing financial liabilities - net of current portion

172,834

155,835

Lease liabilities - net of current portion

13,100

-

Deferred income tax liabilities

2,583

2,981

Derivative financial liabilities - net of current portion

25

-

Customers' deposits

2,205

2,194

Pension and other employee benefits

8,985

7,182

Deferred credits and other noncurrent liabilities

4,557

5,284

Total Noncurrent Liabilities

204,289

173,476

Current Liabilities

Accounts payable

77,845

74,610

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

100,815

95,724

Current portion of interest-bearing financial liabilities

19,722

20,441

Current portion of lease liabilities

3,215

-

Dividends payable

1,584

1,533

Current portion of derivative financial liabilities

88

80

Income tax payable

1,179

220

Total Current Liabilities

204,448

192,608

TOTAL LIABILITIES

408,737

366,084

TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES

525,036

482,750

Page 10 of 12

PLDT INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENTS

For the Years Ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017

(in million pesos, except earnings per common share amounts which are in pesos)

2019

2018

2017

REVENUES

Service revenues

161,355

152,369

150,172

Non-service revenues

7,832

10,545

8,761

169,187

162,914

158,933

EXPENSES

Selling, general and administrative expenses

68,230

73,916

68,990

Depreciation and amortization

39,656

47,240

51,915

Cost of sales and services

13,429

14,427

13,633

Asset impairment

4,833

8,065

8,258

Interconnection costs*

3,638

5,493

6,626

129,786

149,141

149,422

39,401

13,773

9,511

OTHER INCOME (EXPENSES) - NET

(7,065

)

9,042

5,058

INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAX

32,336

22,815

14,569

PROVISION FOR INCOME TAX

9,550

3,842

1,103

NET INCOME

22,786

18,973

13,466

ATTRIBUTABLE TO:

Equity holders of PLDT

22,521

18,916

13,371

Noncontrolling interests

265

57

95

22,786

18,973

13,466

Earnings Per Share Attributable to Common Equity Holders of PLDT

Basic

103.97

87.28

61.61

Diluted

103.97

87.28

61.61

For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, the total service and non-service revenues pertains to revenue from contracts with customers.

* Certain amounts in 2018 and 2017 were adjusted to reflect the effects in income and expenses.

Page 11 of 12

This press release may contain some statements which constitute "forward-looking statements" that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could affect PLDT's business and results of operations. Although PLDT believes that expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no guarantee of

future performance, action or events.

For further information, please contact:

Anabelle L. Chua

Melissa V. Vergel de Dios

Ramon R. Isberto

Tel No: 8816-8213

Tel No: 8816-8024

Tel No: 8511-3101

About PLDT

PLDT is the leading telecommunications provider in the Philippines. Through its principal business groups

  • fixed line and wireless- PLDT offers a wide range of telecommunications services across the Philippines' most extensive fiber optic backbone and fixed line, and mobile network.

PLDT is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE: TEL) and its American Depositary Shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:PHI). PLDT has one of the largest market capitalizations amongPhilippine listed companies.

Further information can be obtained by visiting the web at www.pldt.com.

Page 12 of 12

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First Pacific Company Limited published this content on 05 March 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 05 March 2020 04:10:12 UTC