GLOBE Telecom, Inc. on Monday said it has signed a new term loan facility to finance its capital expenditures (capex).
In a statement, the Ayala-led telecommunications company said it recently “signed loan facility with China Banking Corporation for P3 Billion.”
“The loan shall be used to finance the company’s capital expenditures, refinancing of maturing obligations, and general corporate requirements,” it added.
For the same reasons, Globe also signed in February loan facilities with Bank of the Philippine Islands and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. for P5 billion and $95 million, respectively.
The company has committed to spend P63 billion in capex this year, which includes spillover of capex commitments from the previous year.
Globe said its capex for the second quarter will “likely be lower by at least P2 billion” from the first quarter’s spend.
The company reported last month that it was able to spend P10.7 billion in the first quarter, “22% higher than last year and representing 29% of gross service revenues.”
Bulk of the capex spending went to data-related requirements.
“Although plans to ramp up spending once operations normalize are in place, the full impact on the planned 2020 capex is currently being reevaluated,” Globe said.
The company also announced on Monday its plans to “aggressively” build cell sites in the third quarter of the year .
“The major cell site builds will start in July covering several areas in Metro Manila, North and South Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” Globe said in a statement.
“Globe customers in the areas in which the projects will be implemented are being advised in advance that they may experience temporary service disruptions such as loss of signal or internet connectivity for at least an hour anytime during the day,” it added.
On Monday, shares in Globe fell 1.97% to close at P2,088 apiece. — Arjay L. Balinbin
