PLDT argues against lead-plaintiff motions in US class action suit

Pangilinan-led PLDT Inc. on Monday argued against the motions of two individuals in the United States to serve as the lead plaintiffs in a class action suit as they lacked sufficient financial interest.

In a regulatory filing, PLDT identified the two individuals as Sophia Olsson and Kevin Douglas, who submitted separate motions to the court as represented by different law firms.

Olsson was reported to own two PLDT shares and suffered $22.69 in losses; and Kevin Douglas, who said he owned 35 PLDT shares and suffered $240.23 in losses.

Both plaintiffs said the losses were incurred following PLDT’s disclosure of the budget overrun, calling on the court to award them reasonable costs and expenses incurred in the legal action.

PLDT late last year disclosed an initial budget overrun of P48 billion, representing 12.7% of its capital expenditure from 2019 to 2022. This was later scaled down to P33 billion, after settlements with major vendors.

According to PLDT, Olsson and Douglas' losses “fall far short” of the basic requirement needed for a lead plaintiff to show that he or she is an adequate representative on behalf of the putative class.

“[O]lsson’s and Douglas’ nominal losses show that they ‘lack sufficient financial interest in the outcome of the [US Class Action] to incentivize them to monitor counsel’s performance and control the litigation on behalf of the putative class,” the filing read.

Just last week PLDT announced the official exit of key officers, including the early retirement of Chief Financial Officer Anabelle Chua effective April 16, 2023, and Senior Vice President and Network Head Mario Tamayo effective April 14, 2023.

The company saw its full-year telco core income climb 10% to P33.116 billion in 2022, while its net income declined by 60% to P10.485 billion from P26.367 billion.

Revenues climbed 6% to P205.245 billion, including P82.0 billion from Individual business, P57.4 billion from Home, and P47.5 billion from Enterprise. — DVM, GMA Integrated News