Filipino telco Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc (Digitel), 47.4%-owned by JG Summit Holdings, reported net losses of PHP1.98 billion (USD41 million) in 2008, despite a 36.5% rise in revenues which came on the back of strong subscriber gains. The nation’s second largest fixed line service provider said turnover climbed to PHP11.35 billion last year, up from PHP8.31 billion in 2007, driven by a rise in its subscriber base, and in particular, its pre-paid segment. Digitel’s operating expenses were trimmed by 9.8% in FY2008, however the adverse impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations and mark-to-market valuation combined to inflict a net loss of nearly PHP2 billion in 2008, reversing the previous year’s net profit of PHP1.17 billion. Digitel had a total of 4,023 employees as of the end of 2008.
Last month TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate reported that the group’s mobile arm, Digital Mobile Philippines (DMPI) trading as Sun Cellular, registered more than nine million subscribers to its network in the first quarter of this year. The cellco ended 2008 with around 8.15 million users.