Globe earns ₱13.7 B in Q1, tops pre-pandemic level

Globe Telecom Inc. closed the first three months of 2022 with a net income soaring 86 percent to ₱13.7 billion as consolidated service revenues reached ₱39.2 billion, surpassing pre-pandemic level.

In a report, Globe said that its revenues registered a four percent increase versus the same period last year, surpassing prepandemic levels on the back of its data business, as more users went online to work, learn, do business transactions and entertain themselves.

With higher EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and lower non-operating expenses, which fully offset the increase in depreciation charges, the telco's net income soared 86 percent to ₱13.7 billion.

Lower non-operating expenses this period was mainly due to the net gain of ₱8.5 billion on the partial sale of Globe’s data center business.

Excluding this one-time gain, normalized net income would have been ₱5.1 billion, or up by 2 percent year-on-year.

Accordingly, core net income, which excludes the impact of non-recurring charges, and foreign exchange and markto-market charges, ended at ₱5.1 billion for the quarter. Similarly, normalized core net income was kept flat year-on-year.

“We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter, as the top-line growth momentum was sustained," summed up President and CEO Ernest L. Cu.

"We saw encouraging results particularly in the mobile business as the government continuously eased pandemic restrictions and the economy opened up. We are likewise optimistic about the growth prospects for the new ventures in Globe’s expanding portfolio. We believe that our ceaseless innovation through various digital platforms, backed by the growing investment in our data network will strengthen our leadership in the digital space," he elaborated.

Overall, Globe invested a total of ₱21 billion in capital expenditure (capex) in the first quarter of this year, 10 percent more than the same period in 2021.

The bulk, 82 percent of the capex went to datarelated requirements to handle the surge in demand for digital services and to provide a higher level of digital experiences for its customers nationwide.

As a result of these investments, Globe built 234 new cell sites nationwide, upgraded over 3.5 thousand mobile sites, and installed 380 new 5G sites as of end-March of 2022.

In the fixed line front, Globe installed over 470 thousand Fiber to the Home (FTTH) lines.

The telco's mobile business revenues as of end-March of 2022 improved by 2 percent from last year’s ₱26.3 billion mostly coming from the prepaid brands.

Total mobile revenues comprised 69 percent of the total service revenues, with total mobile subscriber base now reaching 87.4 million, or 10 percent higher from the year earlier.

From a product view, mobile data revenues posted ₱20.8 billion in the first three months of 2022 from ₱19.2 billion in the same period last year, as Filipinos regain mobility amid easing pandemic restrictions.

Mobile data now accounts for 78 percen tof mobile revenues from 73 percent a year ago.

Also, mobile data traffic soared to 1,058 petabytes as of end-March this year from 836 petabytes the previous year, which translates to a 27 percent year-on-year growth.

Meanwhile, mobile voice and mobile SMS revenues ended at ₱3.9 billion and ₱2.1 billion, lower year-on-year by 17 and 11 percent, respectively.

Home Broadband business