DITO CME Holdings Corp., the parent company of DITO Telecommunity, has reported a substantial decrease in net losses for the first quarter of 2025, attributing this improvement to increased revenue driven by strong demand for mobile services.

The company disclosed that its net losses in the January to March period amounted to ₱4.65 billion, a 54% reduction from ₱10.05 billion recorded in the same timeframe the previous year.

This upswing coincides with a 24% rise in revenues, which reached ₱4.69 billion compared to ₱3.79 billion in Q1 2024.

Significantly, during the first quarter, DITO's network coverage expanded from 853 to 925 cities, reflecting the company’s ongoing infrastructure development.

As of the end of March, DITO Telecommunity had attracted approximately 13.9 million mobile subscribers, maintaining an average revenue per user (ARPU) of ₱110 per month.

The financial report also highlighted a foreign currency exchange gain of ₱2.47 billion, resulting from the translation of foreign currency-denominated interest-bearing loans and trade payables, marking a notable recovery from the previous year’s foreign currency exchange loss of ₱2.18 billion.

On the expense side, DITO CME reported a 15% increase in expenditures, totaling ₱8.11 billion, compared to ₱7.04 billion in the first quarter of 2024. This rise in costs was attributed to various factors including higher inventory expenses, increases in general, selling, and administrative costs, as well as depreciation and amortization, largely tied to the commercial rollout of new services this year.

In line with its franchise obligations, DITO Tel successfully completed its fifth and final technical audit in September 2024. The audit revealed that the company achieved a minimum average broadband speed of 92.87 Mbps for 4G and 345.28 Mbps for 5G, exceeding the mandated minimum speed of 55 Mbps.

Additionally, DITO improved its national population coverage to 86.3%, up from 80.65% the previous year, surpassing its commitment of 80.01%.

In a related disclosure, DITO CME Holdings previously indicated that its net losses for the entire fiscal year 2024 had escalated by 109% to ₱41.01 billion, up from ₱19.6 billion in 2023. This considerable increase was largely due to higher operating expenses and other charges, although it was somewhat offset by revenue growth resulting from the start of DITO Tel’s commercial operations on March 8, 2021. The company’s foreign currency exchange losses amounted to ₱8.29 billion, attributed to the depreciation of the Philippine peso against both the Chinese yuan and the US dollar, while total revenues experienced a 45% increase to ₱16.3 billion from ₱11.3 billion, alongside a subscriber count of 13.67 million, with an ARPU consistent at ₱108 per month.

By the end of 2024, DITO CME reported adjusted earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of ₱422 million, marking a significant turnaround from a loss of ₱1.6 billion in 2023.