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A Three‑Part Business Column Series: TEL’s Dividend Story — Sustain, Then Grow PART 3 — “Kayana: The Data Bet That Could Protect (or Unlock) Dividend Growth

 


(Based on PLDT Inc.’s SEC Form 17‑Q for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2025, filed Nov. 11, 2025; plus public disclosures on Kayana through Jan. 28, 2026. Not investment advice.)


Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs.

PART 3 — “Kayana: The Data Bet That Could Protect (or Unlock) Dividend Growth”

If Part 2 is about spending on towers, fiber, and 5G, then Part 3 is about the quieter bet: data-driven monetization—and that is where Kayana Solutions, Inc. enters the story.

Kayana describes itself as a “data-powered digital experience company,” backed by PLDT, Meralco, and MPIC, built to transform customer engagement using data + GenAI, payments, and identity. Its offerings include “Customer 360,” an AI “digital concierge,” a “connected household” experience (bills and expenses management), and data-driven credit scoring. Read plainly, Kayana is trying to turn the MVP Group’s vast customer base into a platform for smarter targeting, cross-sell, and frictionless digital journeys. 

Kayana also announced a strategic collaboration with Accenture to build a “digital factory” to accelerate digital product development—covering data-and-AI-led experiences, cloud solutions, and product design. That matters because data value isn’t captured by dashboards; it’s captured by shipping products that customers actually use. The “digital factory” framing implies Kayana aims to industrialize product creation—faster iterations, faster rollouts. 

Now, here is the crucial dividend investor’s question: does Kayana matter to PLDT’s bottom line today? The honest answer, from the 9M25 filing, is not yet. PLDT’s reconciliation shows a small share in Kayana losses (₱44 million) for the period—immaterial relative to PLDT’s ₱25+ billion telco core income base. So the Kayana narrative is not a current earnings catalyst; it is a strategic option for the future. 

But “not yet” doesn’t mean “not meaningful.” Kayana can matter in two ways:

1) Direct contribution (Kayana becomes profitable, PLDT earns equity income/dividends)

PLDT owns about 45% of Kayana. Public reports indicate PLDT has continued funding Kayana via share subscriptions (including a ₱594 million subscription disclosed in September 2025, and board approval for a larger subscription announced in January 2026, subject to definitive agreements). This continued capital suggests PLDT sees Kayana as a long-term growth platform.
If Kayana eventually becomes a profitable platform business (selling data/AI products to enterprises, or earning transaction/revenue shares via payments + identity), PLDT could see recurring equity income.

2) Indirect contribution (Kayana improves PLDT’s own telco economics)

For dividends, this is arguably the more powerful path. PLDT’s 9M25 disclosures show the current pain points: wireless churn rose, prepaid base shrank, and ARPU softened in some segments—while data growth stayed positive. Kayana’s “Customer 360” and hyper-personalization aim directly at retention, upsell, and service experience. If those tools reduce churn even modestly or lift ARPU through smarter bundling and targeting, the incremental profit could exceed Kayana’s direct equity earnings—because PLDT’s wireless revenue base is large.

This matters because dividend growth is not just about capex—it’s about conversion. Telecoms can spend endlessly; the winners are the ones that convert investment into:

  • better customer stickiness (lower churn),
  • better monetization (higher ARPU), and
  • lower cost-to-serve (digital self-service, AI-assisted support).

Kayana’s positioning suggests it is meant to be that conversion layer: a group-wide capability that helps PLDT and sister companies turn data into repeatable revenue. 

So what’s the dividend relevance of Kayana?
In a world where financing costs rise and capex stays real, the best defense of dividend growth is not “cut capex,” but make capex pay—via better monetization, retention, and digital upsell. Kayana is a bet that PLDT can extract more value from the customer base it already serves—especially as legacy services decline and competitive intensity pushes telcos to fight on experience, not just coverage. 

The market’s “scoreboard” for Kayana (what investors should watch)

Because Kayana’s financial contribution is tiny today, the market will judge it by operational indicators before it judges it by profits:

  • Does wireless churn trend down? 
  • Does ARPU stabilize or improve? 
  • Does PLDT’s telco core income re-accelerate (the dividend base)? 

If those inflect positively, dividend growth becomes much easier to defend—because the same cash engine that sustains dividends today would have more headroom tomorrow. 




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