the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

In the Philippine telecom market, the contest for investors’ loyalty has long been measured in signal strength, subscriber counts, and fiber kilometers. But in 2026, another battlefield is taking shape: the dividend crown . On one side stands Manuel V. Pangilinan , the “MVP” of Philippine corporate life, whose PLDT Inc. remains the country’s telecom cash machine—large, entrenched, and disciplined in its dividend framework. On the other hand is Dennis Anthony Uy of Converge ICT Solutions Inc., whose younger fiber challenger is beginning to look less like a growth-only broadband insurgent and more like a credible dividend-growth story. Their first-quarter 2026 results tell a nuanced story. PLDT looks better equipped to defend its dividend. Converge looks better placed to grow one. PLDT: The incumbent with the cash engine PLDT’s first-quarter numbers still carry the heft of an incumbent. Revenue rose 2% year-on-year to ₱56.5 billion , while EBITDA increased 2% to ₱28.3 billion , with EBI...

Dennis Uy’s Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is beginning to look more like the kind of telecom infrastructure company Philippine investors have seen before: one that borrows to fund network expansion while continuing to reward shareholders with generous dividends. The resemblance is not exact. Converge remains far less leveraged than PLDT Inc. was during its heavier investment cycles, and its enterprise and data-center ambitions suggest it is still in expansion mode rather than simply defending a mature franchise. But its first-quarter 2026 results show a capital allocation pattern that is becoming harder to ignore: free cash flow fell short of dividends, debt increased, and management continued investing for growth. Converge reported ₱11.19 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2026, up 4% year-on-year from ₱10.80 billion . Net income, however, was essentially flat at ₱3.02 billion , while earnings per share stayed unchanged at ₱0.42 .  That combination — modest revenue growth...

  For companies in telecoms, maturity is usually easy to spot. Growth slows, capital spending eases, management learns the language of “harvest”, and investors are offered the consolations of yield. Converge, the Philippine broadband operator, is not there yet. Its 2025 annual report instead depicts a business that is doing many things right—growing revenues, adding customers, keeping margins sturdy, and paying down debt—while still behaving less like a cash-yielding utility and more like a builder of digital infrastructure. That distinction matters. In 2025 Converge generated record consolidated revenues of ₱44.8bn , up 10.2% from the previous year, while EBITDA rose 10.0% to ₱27.0bn and net income climbed 9.6% to ₱11.9bn ; EBITDA margin remained a lofty 60.4% , and management highlighted an industry-leading 17.7% return on invested capital . Those are not the numbers of a company losing operational discipline. They are the numbers of one that appears to be executing well. The...

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! 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. Converge ICT’s decision to raise its regular cash dividend to ₱0.49 per share from ₱0.43 previously is best read not as a pivot into a high-yield stock, but as a carefully calibrated statement of financial strength. The increase tells the market that management is comfortable with the company’s earnings power, liquidity, and leverage profile even as it continues to fund a large network expansion program. That confidence is not hard to justify. In 2025, Converge posted ₱44.8 billion in consolidated revenues , up 10.2% year on year , while EBITDA rose 10.0% to ₱27.0 billion and still carried an industry-leading 60.4% margin . Net income climbed 9.6% to ₱11.9 billion , while return...

  We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! 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. By most measures that matter to dividend-minded investors, Converge ICT’s latest numbers read like a company stepping into a more mature phase—still growing fast, still investing heavily, but now increasingly comfortable returning cash to shareholders. The question, of course, is whether this comfort is a one-off or the start of a durable pattern. The answer from Converge’s 9M2025 (17‑Q) and its FY2025 performance update is nuanced: earnings momentum is clearly upward, cash generation is still robust, but the path to higher dividends will likely be paced by working-capital discipline and capex intensity. A topline that keeps compounding—without losing its margin edge Start...