Globe 2016 core net income hits P16 B

MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom Inc.’s core net income hit a record P16.01 billion last year, supported by all-time high consolidated revenues.

In a press briefing, Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu said core net income which excludes the impact of non-recurring charges, foreign exchange and mark-to-market changes grew six percent from the P15.13 billion in 2015.

Net income, meanwhile, reached P15.89 billion last year, down four percent from P16.48 billion in 2015.

Globe achieved record core net income as its consolidated service revenues also hit a fresh peak at P120 billion last year, six percent higher than the P113.68 billion a year earlier.

The sustained revenue momentum, despite the competitive intensity in the market during the second half of 2016, was driven by the growth in data-related products across all segments.

Mobile revenue rose slightly to P91.90 billion last year from the P91.24 billion in 2015 due to the continued shift to data from core voice and SMS of customers.

Given increasing use of data by subscribers, mobile data now accounts for 38 percent of total mobile revenue, outpacing voice which has a 37 percent share.

Revenue from mobile data service reached P34.6 billion in 2016, a 25-percent increase from the P27.7 billion reported a year ago.

Despite Globe’s clean-up of inactive accounts, the Ayala-led telco ended 2016 with 62.8 million mobile subscribers, a 12-percent growth from the 56.2 million subscribers reported in 2015.

Revenues from the home broadband business increased 28 percent to P14.46 billion last year from P11.32 billion in 2015 with the total subscriber base now reaching 1.13 million.

Globe’s corporate data business likewise improved year-on-year as revenues climbed 28 percent to P9.90 billion in 2016 from P7.70 billion in 2015, with strong demand for data connectivity and cloud computing solutions contributing to the growth.

Traditional fixed line voice revenues also posted an 11- percent year-on-year uptick to reach P3.78 billion last year supported by the new home broadband bundled plans.

Globe also posted another record-level consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of close to P50 billion last year, up nine percent from the 2015 level of P45.96 billion.

Total operating expenses and subsidy also grew by three percent to P70.01 billion last year from P67.72 billion in 2015.

Capital expenditures spent by the telco, meanwhile, reached P36.7 billion or $772 million last year.

While the industry is seen to remain highly competitive this year, Globe is upbeat it can sustain gains made last year.

“As we move forward in 2017, we are optimistic that we will maintain our growth trajectory as we continue to strengthen our leadership in the digital space, through the use of innovation and partnerships with global content providers. We are confident that our aggressive investments in our network will meet the country’s future digital demands,” Cu said.