Dennis Uy’s Dito suffers P8.4B losses since 2020
DITO, the country’s third telco controlled by Davao-based business tycoon Dennis Uy, has suffered P8.4 billion in losses since 2020.
This was revealed by DITO’s pro forma statement prepared by P&A Grant Thornton.
The statement showed the telco firm had a net loss of P4.656 billion in 2020 and P3.769 billion in the first six months of 2021, for a total of P8.4 billion.
Dito started operations last March and earned P248 million in the first six months of 2021. However, it had already spent a whopping P4.14 billion.
As part of its goal to reach five million subscribers and service sites nationwide by the end of 2021, the company released P52 billion for capital investments. These include P35.468 billion in 2020 and P16.234 billion in the first six months of 2021.
As of June 2021, Dito had provided mobile 4G services in 149 cities and towns with 1.64 million subscribers.
The pro forma statement in DITO’s prospectus was made to “illustrate the impact” of the infusion of UY’s telecom assets to DITO CME on the group’s financial position as of June 30, 2021.
However, P&A noted that the pro forma report was “not necessarily indicative of the results of its operations.”
Uy’s Udenna Communications, Media and Entertainment Holdings Corp. (UCME), which controls Dito Telecommunity, is taking over 80 percent of DITO through a P68.43 billion share swap which was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) only in September.
DITO will have a 54 percent stake in Dito Telecommunity with the remaining stake owned by China Telecom (40 percent) and Uy’s Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings (6 percent).
Dito Telecommunity posted a P27.5 billion bond when it won the bidding for the third telco franchise in 2018 after all its rivals were disqualified by the National Telecommunications Commission.
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