SAN FRANCISCO, March 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges PLDT Inc. (NYSE: PHI) investors who suffered significant losses to submit your losses now.

Class Period: Jan. 1, 2019 – Dec. 19, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Apr. 7, 2023
Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/PHI
Contact An Attorney Now: PHI@hbsslaw.com
844-916-0895

PLDT Inc. (NYSE: PHI) Securities Fraud Class Action:

The litigation focuses on PLDT’s past disclosures about capital expenditures incurred in its massive network transformation program.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false or misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (1) PLDT incurred huge capital spending overruns; and (2) they failed to address weaknesses that allowed such overruns.

Investors began to learn the truth on Dec. 16, 2022, when PLDT announced that during 2019 – 2022 it experienced a budget overrun of approximately P48 billion on its network transformation program.

In addition, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that PLDT’s chairman (Manuel Pangilinan) was initially apprised of the preliminary discovery of as much as P130 billion in “financial anomalies” in Oct. 2022, before this number was trimmed to the P48 billion the company announced on Dec. 16.

The Inquirer further reported: (1) “[t]his official had discovered the company had been ordering and paying for billions of pesos worth of internet and phone network equipment without the paperwork needed for accurate recordkeeping;” (2) Pangilinan “said he immediately ordered that an internal forensics team be assembled to assess the damage;” and (3) “[h]e also ordered the hiring of a third-party auditor that was not associated with PLDT’s external auditor, SGV & Co., to scour the company’s books from top-to-bottom to search for potential cases of fraud.”

Then, on Dec. 19, 2022, Bloomberg reported that the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the budget overrun and noted “[t]he budget overrun is almost equivalent to PLDT’s combined 2020 and 2021 net income.”

In response to these events, the price of PLDT American Depositary Shares has significantly declined.

“We’re focused on investors’ losses and proving PLDT misled investors about its CAPEX spend and controls associated with its network buildout,” said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you invested in PLDT and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm’s investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding PLDT should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email PHI@hbsslaw.com.

About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs’ rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.

Contact:
Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895