© Reuters.
Philippines-based telecom company DITO Telecommunity has secured a 15-year, $3.9 billion finance facility from a consortium of multinational banks, according to a disclosure by its parent company DITO CME Holdings on Thursday. The loan is one of the largest long-term debts arranged by multinational banks for a corporation in the Philippines.
The new funds will be used to repay an existing $1.3 billion loan, with the remaining proceeds set to support the network expansion of DITO Telecommunity. The company anticipates that additional investments in network infrastructure will improve access quality and user experience. The funding will also accelerate DITO’s progress in the 5G space and its mobile postpaid business.
“This project finance facility represents strategic trust and confidence in the vision of the company to be a major enabler of digital services in the Philippines,” said DITO CME President Ernesto R. Alberto.
Earlier this week, DITO Telecommunity announced it had passed its fourth technical audit. An independent auditor’s report showed the telecom company’s population coverage now stands at 80.65%, with average broadband speeds reaching 74.97 Mbps for 4G and 639.32 Mbps for 5G.
In addition to securing the loan, DITO CME Holdings Corp. recently issued shares to raise further funds. Subsidiary DITO Holdings Corp. issued 2.24 billion shares to Summit Global Ltd., totaling PHP 2.4 billion ($48 million), while DITO CME sold shares to Xterra Ventures Ptd. Ltd. and Summit Telco Corp. Pte. Ltd., raising an additional PHP 2.2 billion ($44 million).
Despite these financial maneuvers, DITO CME reported a net loss of PHP 11.24 billion ($224 million) in 2022 due to high operating costs in its telecom business. The company has allocated PHP 27 billion ($540 million) for capital expenditures in 2023, a decrease from the previous year’s PHP 50 billion ($1 billion).
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