Globe posts flat earnings in Q2
By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter
GLOBE Telecom, Inc. reported flat earnings in the second quarter as ramped-up infrastructure spending dampened the growth in revenues.
The Ayala-led telecommunications giant posted an attributable net income of P5.32 billion in the April to June period, 0.5% higher from the P5.29 billion it recorded in the same period last year.
Year-to-date, Globe’s attributable net income was 20.8% higher at P12.05 billion on the back of the company’s strong performance in the first quarter.
Cnsolidated service revenues of Globe stood at P36.9 billion in the April to June period, 12% up from a year ago due to the continuous growth of its mobile, broadband and corporate data businesses.
Revenues from its mobile segment grew 4% year-on-year in the second quarter to P27.65 billion, which Globe attributed to the performance of its prepaid brands.
Globe’s total mobile subscribers stood at 92.94 million as of end June. Of this, Globe Prepaid and TM subscribers accounted for 90.31 million, while Globe Postpaid added 2.63 million.
Revenues from home broadband also rose 20.8% to P5.35 billion in the second quarter, on the back of a 21% growth in its subscriber base to 1.8 million as of end June.
Corporate data revenues likewise rose 12% to P3.19 billion, driven by the “increase in circuit count, high usage on both internet and domestic services, and the strong take-up of various data connectivity solutions, as well as managed and cloud-based services.”
Fixed line voice revenues of the company however fell 8% to P684 million.
Year-to-date, the total revenues of Globe ended at P81.52 billion, up 9.5% from in the same period last year. This was driven largely by the 45% increase in mobile data revenues to P34.04 billion, which offset the 17% decline in mobile voice to P12.32 billion and 24% drop in mobile SMS to P8.28 billion.
But expenses also increased 6% to P63.2 billion as the company boosted spending on its network infrastructure to support the growing number of its subscriber base.
Globe said capital spending hit P19 billion in the first half of the year, 75% of which went to data-related requirements.
“We are pleased with the Company’s robust performance and that we are on track with our strategic objectives for this year,” Ernest L. Cu, president and chief executive officer of Globe, said in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in our 4G (fourth generation) and LTE (long-term evolution) network to enhance the customer experience and reinforce our competitive advantage moving forward,” he added.
