Globe holds 2018 capex budget steady at $850 million
GLOBE Telecom, Inc. has set aside a capital expenditure (capex) budget of $850 million (P42.37 billion) for 2018, unchanged from a year earlier, primarily to meet demand for bandwidth-intensive content.
In a statement, the telecommunications company said the capex budget was approved by its board.
Globe President and CEO Ernest L. Cu told reporters in October that the company may keep capex unchanged in 2018.
“Majority of the company’s capex for 2018 is geared to meet customer demand for more bandwidth-intensive content, which, in turn, will support the revenue momentum of our data-related services”, Mr. Cu said in the statement.
Mr. Cu said capital spending for the year is intended to finance the delivery of fast Internet service to two million homes by 2020.
Part of the capex will also be used for the deployment of multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology to expand and enhance its long-term evolution (LTE) network.
Globe began deployment of LTE sites using the 700 MHz band in June 2016, after the company and PLDT, Inc. teamed up to buy the telecommunications assets of San Miguel Corp. for P69.1 billion.
In 2017 Globe’s capex budget rose $100 million to finance expansion of its mobile data network.
Globe chief financial officer (CFO) Rizza Maniego-Eala told reporters in October that Globe could issue retail bonds in 2018.
Globe’s attributable profit in the first nine months of 2017 was P12.99 billion, up 11% year-on-year, following a 6% increase in revenue to a record P95.14 billion.
It registered a 7% increase in mobile revenue in the nine months to P73.1 billion, led by strong uptake of mobile data. Home broadband revenue grew 8% to P11.7 billion, driving the company’s customer base to 1.26 million subscribers by the end of September. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo