Philippines - Eastern Communications forecasts 16% revenue growth.

Eastern Communications expects 16 percent growth in revenue for 2008 to PHP 901 million. The Philippine Star reports that Eastern chief financial officer Raul Pagdanganan said net income this year would be lower, at PHP 120 million versus PHP 371 million in 2007, as last year's huge bottom line was mainly due to a one-time gain of around PHP 200 million. Eastern is forecasting a 28 percent increase in revenues for 2009. The company's subscriber base has reached 15,000, made up mostly of corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The company has allocated PHP 1 billion this year and about half a billion next year for capital …