DITO parent seeks new capital

DITO CME Holdings Corp., parent of DITO Telecommunity Corp., plans to raise P28.83 billion by 2028 to address negative equity and support its telecom rollout.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Tuesday, DITO CME said the planned equity raise aims to cover a capital deficiency of P78.04 billion as of end-March, largely due to DITO Tel’s pre-operating and start-up costs. The group reported a total comprehensive loss of P41 billion in 2024.

The third telco has committed P256.54 billion over five years to expand its telecom network.

To further improve its financial position, DITO CME plans to convert P26.53 billion in shareholder advances into equity by end-2025. These advances came from Udenna Corp., China Telecommunications Corp., Xterra Ventures, and Summit Telco Holdings.

“DITO CME’s management continues to have discussions with its existing investors and other entities to fulfil the target equity raise,” the company said.

It is also considering another follow-on offering or stock rights offering, depending on market conditions and DITO Tel’s operational ramp-up.

In November 2024, the firm completed a fully subscribed follow-on offering that raised P2.05 billion. It also secured P14.5 billion in private placements from January 2024 to May 2025.

From 2018 to 2024, DITO CME incurred P17.27 billion in foreign exchange losses, but it posted a P32.47-billion foreign currency gain in the first quarter of 2025, partially offsetting past losses.

DITO Tel is projected to post positive full-year EBITDA by end-2025 and turn profitable by 2028. As of March, it had 13.9 million subscribers and 7,296 towers, covering 86.3 percent of the population.