Globe banks on GCash, mobile for income lift

MANILA, Philippines — Wireless provider Globe Telecom Inc. has raised its profit to beyond P20 billion as of September, as it looks to end the year strong on the back of mobile and e-wallet contributions.

Based on its financial report, Globe grew its profit by seven percent to P20.56 billion in the nine months to September, from P19.29 billion a year ago.

Globe’s telco revenues rose by two percent to P124.01 billion, enough to hold off the impact of the 56-percent decline in its non-telco earnings to P1.81 billion.

Across its core segments, Globe increased its revenues from mobile and corporate services, growing by five percent and 14 percent, respectively. Globe said its mobile products remain competitive for consumers, proof of which is that its subscriber base has gone up to 60.2 million.

However, Globe suffered a six percent drop in broadband revenues and 10 percent decline in fixed line voice earnings. The telco attributed this to consumers opting out of their wireless subscriptions in favor of fiber connections.

The positive thing for Globe is that its e-wallet venture in GCash is yielding dividends, gaining a record P3.5 billion worth of equity earnings so far this year.

When accounted for against the whole, GCash chipped in 14 percent of Globe’s pre-tax profit, up from a year ago’s six percent.

Likewise, GCash parent Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt) grew its equity earnings by more than double, signaling the business strength of the largest e-wallet in the Philippines.

To date, Globe has invested P41 billion for capital expenditures, in line with its guidance for the year of P55 billion. More than 91 percent of the amount was spent on constructing new telco assets to enhance the quality of connectivity services.

In particular, Globe has built 684 new cellular towers and upgraded 2,723 mobile sites to LTE as of September. Moreover, the telco has rolled out 55,076 fiber-to-the-home lines to capitalize on the growing demand for fiber technology nationwide.

Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said shareholders can expect the telco to keep up its growth momentum for the rest of the year, boosted by a growing portfolio of digital products and services.

The Ayala-led telco has implemented key changes at the management level, with Cu set to be succeeded by Carl Raymond Cruz, former CEO of Airtel Nigeria, at the next annual stockholders meeting in April 2025.