PLDT plummets 17% on revelations of undocumented budget overrun

Telecommunications giant PLDT Inc. erased more than P50 billion in market value on Monday after a nearly 17-percent plunge in its stock price as investors weighed the profit impact of a multi-year P48- billion budget overrun that was disclosed after trading hours last Friday.

PLDT opened lower by 3 percent before plunging by as low as 16.8 percent to P1,230 per share, creating a new all-time low this year.

As of this writing, shares of the country’s biggest integrated telecommunications firm were trading at P1,274 each, down by 13.8 percent.

In an exclusive interview with the Inquirer, PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said they had initially discovered as much as P130 billion in undocumented purchase orders but the figure, described by the company as a budget overrun, has since been trimmed to P48 billion.

He said a number of top executives had been suspended in relation to the investigation but no instances of fraud have been found so far.

PLDT said in its filing on Friday the overspending requirements that were previously undetected will enter their financial statements in 2023 and 2024.

PLDT shares had lost 14.5 percent of their value after a five-day selldown before the company disclosed the initial finding on Friday, which had been the subject of rumors for several weeks.