Philippines' PLDT sees full-year revenues down on digital shift

MANILA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT), the country's oldest and largest telecoms company, said 2015 revenues will slip as consumers move from traditional voice and text usage to digital media, but kept its annual profit estimate. Rival Globe Telecom Inc, in contrast, said it expects to sustain its growth momentum after posting a record net income in the first half as it takes the lead in the digital shift. "It will be a tough year for 2015 on a profit standpoint. It will be tough as we accelerate the transition from the legacy businesses," PLDT Chairman Manuel Pangilinan told reporters after the release of the company's first-half results. PLDT, the country's second most valuable listed company, maintained its full year core profit guidance of 35 billion pesos ($767.2 million) even as core income fell 5 percent to 18.9 billion pesos in the first half. The company's core profit, which excludes currency and derivatives-related items, was 37 billion pesos for 2014. PLDT is partly owned by Japan's NTT Docomo Inc and Hong Kong's First Pacific Co Ltd. Pangilinan said the company expects a 4-5 billion pesos drag in revenues this year as consumers move to communicate through the Internet instead of through calls and texts, the traditional strength of PLDT. "We're concerned obviously with the inroads made by the competition," Pangilinan said, adding that rival Globe adapted more quickly to the digital space. First half net income of Globe rose 27 percent to a record 8.7 billion pesos on strong revenues from the mobile data business, results released on Tuesday showed. ($1 = 45.6200 Philippine pesos) (Reporting By Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)