Globe Telecom sees strong Q3 profits

Globe Telecom said on Monday its net income reached P26.5 billion, higher by 48 percent compared to P18 billion in the same period in 2021, driven largely by corporate data and mobile services.

Core net income is at P16 billion, Globe told the stock exchange.

Revenues for the first 9 months of the year reached a record P118 billion, higher by 3 percent year-on-year driven with non-telco services supplementing corporate data and mobile services, the Ayala-led telco said.

Mobile business posted strong revenue growth at P80.6 billion for the period from P78.4 billion compared to the first 9 months of 2021, it said.

Globe said the revenue rise was driven by prepaid and digital adoption. Total mobile customer base expanded by 5 percent to 87.9 million, it added.

Meanwhile, mobile data revenue grew 8 percent to P62.5 billion in the January to September period from P57.9 billion in the same comparable period.

Despite growth in mobile data revenues, Cu said the mass market is seen “optimizing” their budgets as inflation quickens.

“What we’re seeing is that the lower income classes are the ones that are truly optimizing their spend and maximizing inclusions in promo packages, probably even spending less…I think this is just a reflection of the difficult macroeconomic conditions in the country today,” he said.

The softening and the impact from inflation are seen in the “financially-constrained” prepaid-based market, Globe’s head of Consumer Mobile Business Darius Delgado said.

“These customers maximize their household spending in general leading to optimization of telco spending in return. Given this we are hard at work in helping our customers surpass survive in this difficult environment, keeping them engaged with campaigns that help them stretch their constrained household budgets,” he said.

Postpaid fiber subscribers rose 64 percent while revenues rose 108 percent. However, home broadband business slid in Q3 which brought its first 9 months’ revenues to P20.5 billion from P22.4 billion the previous year, Globe said.

Corporate data posted a record P12.5 billion, up by 21 percent, the telco said. Meanwhile, non-telco revenues hit P2.8 billion with contributions from ECPay, Yondu, and Asticom, it added.

“We are pleased with the Globe Group’s performance amidst the challenging economic climate and rapid changes in our industry. We believe that our decision to pivot and expand our growth opportunities through non-telco services has paved the way for us to remain relevant and competitive,” Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu said.

“Looking ahead, we are confident that our digital transformation will enhance shareholder value and unlock Globe’s sustainable growth trajectory,” he added. ABS CBN News