Globe posts P13B net income in H1, up 13%

Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. saw its bottom line jump in the first half of 2021 despite a challenging economic environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, Globe reported a net income of P13 billion, up 13% from P11.5 billion in the same period in 2020.

The telco attributed the increase to the decline in non-operating charges and taxes.

Lower taxes resulted from the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law which lowered the corporate income tax rate from 30% to 25%.

Globe’s consolidated service revenues during the period stood at P75.5 billion, up 4% from P72.4 billion year-on-year, mainly driven by data, mostly from home broadband owing to the increase of digital activities among Filipinos.

Globe’s home broadband business soared to an all-time high revenues of P14.5 billion, up 16%, driven by the greater reliance of Filipinos on the internet and the swiftly evolving digital tools as the COVID-19 situation persists.

Total home broadband subscriber base reached 4.2 million, up 47% year-on-year.

The telco’s mobile data revenues amounted to P38.6 billion for the first half of the year from P36 billion reported a year ago.

Globe said mobile data now accounts for 73% of mobile revenues from 69% in the first semester of 2020.

Given that the health crisis has changed the Filipino lifestyle across work, education, entertainment, gaming, health, socializing, and purchasing habits, the time spent on mobile applications increased even more, according to the telco.

As a result, mobile data traffic climbed to 1,761 petabytes from 1,106 petabytes in the same period of 2020, which translated to a healthy year-on-year growth of 59%, it said.

Meanwhile, Globe’s mobile voice and mobile SMS revenues ended at P9.1 billion and P4.8 billion, lower year-on-year by 11% and 17%, respectively.

“We are pleased to report strong financial and operating results for the first half of 2021 with healthy balance sheet and cash flows despite the re-imposition of stricter lockdowns during the second quarter,” said Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu.

“In view of the significant progress in our 5G and fiber rollouts as well as the strengthening of our 4G/LTE network, we remain on track to help the country achieve a #1stWorldNetwork. Going forward, we will stay focused on innovation in the areas of fintech, healthcare, education, and e-commerce, among others, to help Filipinos thrive in this pandemic and best position ourselves for the remainder of 2021 and beyond,” Cu said.

Globe said it invested a record level of capital expenditure of P43.3 billion in the first half of the year to improve its network infrastructure and internet connectivity.

Majority or about 88% of the capex spending went to data network builds to address and elevate customer experience in this challenging time, it said.—AOL, GMA News