Bilyonaryo Manuel V. Pangilinan’s PLDT is keeping a positive business outlook despite the company’s reported P48 billion budget overrun.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PLDT said that “the business and the outlook for the business continue to remain healthy.”
Monzon: Initial PSE probe on PLDT stock trades shows no signs of fraud
PLDT said that as a listed company, it has an obligation to make timely disclosures.
However, the company said it needed to understand the range of issues involved and the extent of the matter first, even as there were rumors circulating about PLDT in the public domain.
“Until this information is complete, any announcement would have been premature to the detriment of the public shareholders,” PLDT said.
“Last Friday’s disclosure was done not one day sooner because PLDT needed time to conduct its investigation of the contracts and expenditures involved as well as to meet its major vendors for reconciliation of outstanding amounts and project status. It also needed to identify and indicate in the disclosure its action plan moving forward,” it added.
PLDT reiterated that it has not discovered fraudulent activities in relation to the capex overrun, but assured that it is cooperating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and the Capital Markets Integrity Corporation (CMIC) in relation to the issue, as well as the investigation into the trading activities on PLDT shares just before the disclosure was filed.
“PLDT has responded to separate requests for clarifications and answers from SEC and PSE, and will continue to respond promptly to any further requests,” the company said.