Philippine phone company says profit up 49 percent

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the country's biggest telecommunications company, said third quarter profit rose 49 percent, buoyed by earnings from its stake in a power company.

Net profit for the first nine months rose 15 percent from a year earlier to 30 billion pesos ($630 million), the company said Tuesday. Telecommunications service revenue for the nine months rose 3 percent, fueled by a 4 percent growth in data and broadband, PLDT said.

PLDT in July acquired about 20 percent of power distributor Manila Electric Co.

PLDT Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the company revised down by 1 percent its revenue projection for the year to 146 billion ($3 billion), while the core profit forecast remains at 41 billion pesos ($861 million), up 8 percent from 2008.

"While we anticipate the usual boost in the fourth quarter from holiday spending, we expect that this may be somewhat dampened as the recent typhoons caused extensive damage all around," Pangilinan said in a statement.

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