PLDT, Inc. said its enterprise business is on track to post double-digit revenue growth this year.
PLDT Chief Revenue Officer Eric R. Alberto told reporters during the Philippine Digital Convention 2018 in Pasay City that the company is targeting 11% full-year revenue growth for the enterprise business.
“That’s the target guidance this year but we are tracking 9.5%. You know, it’s a build up. You are trying to build your pipeline. We’re still very optimistic that hopefully, business cycles are not that terrible that we are not able to meet that. We are still tracking and hopeful that we will be able to do at least double-digit,” he said.
In the first quarter PLDT Enterprise revenues jumped 15%, driven by cloud infrastructure and managed IT services revenues.
Mr. Alberto noted data and information and communications technology (ICT) accounts for the bulk of PLDT’s revenues, displacing traditional voice.
However, he noted many businesses still depend on traditional voice services it for specific functions such as multiple-platform unified communication solutions.
“It’s just that (traditional voice) will be overtaken by more and more data use. Data as I say, is the new gold for everyone particularly for enterprises. Data is your core platform for your database for analytics so that businesses can relate more intimately with customers,” he said.
PLDT netted P6.97 billion in the first quarter, up 41% from the same period last year, while core income jumped 14% to P6.07 billion in the first three months of 2018. It has set a guidance of core recurring income of P24 billion for this year.
Meanwhile, PLDT Enterprise also announced it will start offering software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) technology to its enterprise customers, which helps them become “more agile” in its workflow.
“SD-WAN interconnects enterprise networks, data centers, and the cloud with each other — enabling customers to be agile despite geographical distances via a powerful and secure platform,” the company said in a statement.
PLDT is partnering with Cisco for its SD-WAN offer.
“The key differentiator for us when we talk about SD-WAN which we just launched today (is) it’s not just domestic. It includes international,” said Jovy I. Hernandez, head of Head of PLDT & Smart Enterprise Business Groups.
Mr. Alberto is positive that SD-WAN will be a contributor in helping the telco company reach its target growth for the year, as he believes its enterprise customers, whether large or small and medium enterprises(SME), are “fearless” in digitizing.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — D.A. Valdez
