DITO CME Holdings Corp. announced on Wednesday that Dennis Uy was stepping down as chief executive officer (CEO) of the company’s telecom subsidiary, DITO Telecommunity Corp., in a leadership revamp.

Uy will be replaced by Ernesto “Eric” Alberto, the current DITO CME president, while the Davaobased businessman will remain as chairman of DITO Tel.

Alberto, meanwhile, will be replaced by DITO CME Chief Operating Officer Donald Patrick Lim in an acting capacity.

“Eric’s wealth of experience in senior capacities in the banking and telecoms sectors spanning several decades, will be very valuable in his new role as DITO Tel CEO,” Uy said in a statement.

“His appointment comes at an opportune time as we continue to maintain the company on a highgrowth trajectory,” he added.

“With the recent equity infusions at the DITO CME level and DITO Tel’s signing of the $3.9

billion long-term project finance facility, we have further confidence in DITO CME and DITO Tel achieving their business plan targets at the soonest possible time,” the DITO Tel chairman continued.

In September, DITO Tel signed a long-term project finance facility worth $3.9 billion with a term of around 15 years.

The company said the proceeds would be used to extinguish shortterm bridge loan facilities totaling $1.3 billion, with the balance to pay contractors and fund the continuing network rollout of DITO Tel.

It said the facility would further improve the quality of access and user experience of DITO Tel’s customers and accelerate the take-up of its fixed wireless access 5G and mobile postpaid product offerings.

DITO CME, the listed holding firm of Uy’s Udenna group, allotted P27 billion for its 2023 capital expenditures, lower than last year’s P50 billion.

The company booked a net loss of P11.24 billion in 2022 as the high operating expenses of its telecom business weighed on earnings.

On Thursday, DITO CME shares fell by 7 centavos, or 2.14 percent, to P3.20 each as the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped by 0.16 percent.

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