DITO CME on track to profitability

| PHOTO: DITO CME Holdings Corp. website
MANILA, Philippines — The parent company of DITO Telecommunity (DITO) is on track to reach profitability by 2027 as it projects a rise in average spending per user because of heightened data usage while its enterprise business gains traction.
Leo Venezuela, DITO CME Holdings chief financial officer (CFO), told reporters last week they were expecting a higher average revenue per user (ARPU) this year as more Filipinos use mobile data when accessing the internet.
“If you get reliable, fast data plans, you tend to consume more. There will be more opportunities for people to use data,” he said.
READ: DITO Tel expands network, grabs bigger share of market
As of end-2024, Venezuela said their ARPU was about P120 per month for its 14 million subscribers—markedly higher than 9 million in 2023.
Article continues after this advertisementBoth ARPU and subscriber base are expected to increase as the third telco player introduces more products, the CFO said.
Article continues after this advertisementDITO Tel CEO Eric Alberto previously said they were targeting to eventually have at least a 30-percent share of the market.
In comparison, Smart Communications Inc. has 60.3 million subscribers while Globe Telecom Inc. has 60.2 million users.
On the enterprise side, Venezuela said they were optimistic on its growth, especially its potential in creating a new revenue channel for the company.
The official admitted that it would “take some time” before the enterprise business takes off given that it only started last year.
“They are now in the proper trajectory. It can be a very significant, separate revenue stream,” the CFO added.
“With improvements in operations, there’s a clear path,” he said. “We are on track to profitability by 2027.”
DITO CME saw its net loss nearly doubled to P11.05 billion in January to September last year as the revenue growth was tempered by the increase in interest expense.
This year, Venezuela said the telco player was set to spend about P15 billion to P20 billion to focus on “quality” of their services after ramping up population coverage.
According to a study by First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp. and DBS, DITO Tel has the advantage to capture the 5G market given that it holds the majority of the country’s spectrum for the technology that supports quicker internet connection.
Based on National Telecommunications Commission data, DITO Tel has a total of 140 megahertz (MHz) of 5G spectrum. Competitors Globe and PLDT only have 60 MHz each.
The 5G technology enables download rates of more than 10 gigabits per second, which is 100 times quicker than 4G.