Data use lifts Globe profit to P17.7B

LISTED Globe Telecom Inc. reported on Tuesday that its consolidated net income increased by 20 percent from January to September on the back of its customers’ increased data usage.

In a media briefing, Globe Chief Commercial Officer Albert de Larrazabal

said the Ayala-led telecommunications giant’s data-related services bolstered its earnings to reach P17.7 billion from P14.79 billion in the same period last year.

Consolidated service revenues also climbed by 13 percent to P110.6 billion from P97.94 billion a year ago.

For the third quarter alone, net profit reached P5.64 billion, up 6 percent from P5.31 billion in the second quarter. Service revenues grew by 2 percent to P37.73 billion from July to September from P36.87 billion.

“Consistent with the trend [shown in] the [last] few quarters, data continues to drive growth…” de Larrazabal told reporters.

According to the telco, mobile data traffic increased to 1,200 petabytes from 2018’s 641 petabytes.

Revenues from its mobile business jumped by 13 percent to P83 billion from last year’s P73.69 billion, while those from home broadband leaped by 19 percent to P16 billion from P13.55 billion.

The subscriber base of the mobile and home broadband segments also grew to 97.4 million and 1.9 million subscribers, respectively, as of endSeptember.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization stood at P57.85 billion, higher than last year’s P49.29 billion.

Globe President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest L. Cu told the Philippine Stock Exchange that his company’s strong financial performance in the January- toSeptember period “positioned us well as we head into the fourth quarter.”

Globe shares increased by 2.52 percent or P46 to finish at P1,870 apiece on Thursday.