PLDT, Inc. intends to secure an agreement this year for the partial sale of its data center to an international investor, aiming for financial closure by the following year.

If the deal does not progress, PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan expressed that the company remains open to maintaining the business as it holds significant profit potential and substantial growth opportunities.

PLDT had reportedly engaged in discussions with Japan's NTT regarding the potential sale of its data center assets. 

However, Pangilinan revealed that they have since progressed in their discussions with an alternative partner, whom he declined to disclose the identity of.

“(The offer from the new potential partner is) above $1 billion. (NTT) wants a majority but if we give up the majority, then our revenues will drop by P6 billion—not that revenues are all too important. Data centers are really important in our business,” Pangilanan told reporters. 

“Keeping 100 percent is not an altogether bad option for you. It's making money, a lot of money for us,” he added. 

While acknowledging that selling a stake could help reduce the company’s debt, the executive pointed out that any decision to sell should be driven by strategic value rather than financial necessity.

Pangilinan noted that unless the company secures optimal terms, there is little reason to sell merely for the sake of it. 

Likewise, the executive warned of the risk of “seller's regret” if the company hastily divests a minority or majority position in such a valuable asset.

Presently, ePLDT has 11 data centers, including the hyperscale facility in Sta. Rosa Laguna, the Philippines' first genuine hyperscale data hub.

Last March, ePLDT, an information and communications technology (ICT) subsidiary of PLDT, established VITRO, Inc.—a data center operations company uniquely positioned to enhance the customer experience while servicing the needs of hyper scalers and enterprises.

Stable profits

Yesterday, PLDT said that its reported net income during the first six months of the year was stable at P18.41 billion. 

The company also reported a slight increase of 3 percent in its telco core income, which excludes the impact of asset sales and Maya Innovations Holdings, to P18 billion during the period. 

From January to June, PLDT’s consolidated service revenues grew by 3 percent to P96.9 billion, up by P2.4 billion from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, data and broadband revenues grew by 4 percent year-on-year to P116.9 billion, accounting for 82 percent of the total consolidated service revenues.

PLDT's Individual Wireless segment generated P41.9 billion in revenue during the first half of the year, reflecting a 4 percent or P1.7 billion increase over the same period last year.

Mobile data revenues, contributing 89 percent of total Individual Wireless revenues, registered an 8 percent or P2.6 billion growth year-on-year, reaching P37.1 billion.

The number of active data users reached 40.5 million, with an average data usage per subscriber standing at 11.6 GB, compared to 10.5 GB during the same period last year.

Mobile data traffic experienced an 11 percent year-on-year increase, reaching 2,641 Petabytes.