Globe profit hits P17.7 billion in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines — Telco-to-tech provider Globe Telecom Inc. reported a 14-percent dip in profit in the nine months to September, haunted by tightening industry competition and economic impact of typhoons.

Globe posted a net income of P17.7 billion between January and September, down by 14 percent from last year’s P20.6 billion, due to varying pressures.

For one, Filipinos have dealt with a series of typhoons that forced them to stay at home, reducing their data consumption as opposed to when they are on site for school or work.

Globe posted a two-percent decline in revenue to P121.7 billion, drawing the largest contribution from the mobile segment at P86.2 billion.

The telco mitigated the impact of revenue decline by pursuing cost-cutting measures to cut spending by three percent to P57.5 billion.

Still, Globe is confident that it can rebound in the long run, as its investments should start paying dividends by then. It holds the largest subscriber base in the mobile industry right now, serving 63.1 million.

Globe is also pushing in the broadband space through its low-cost service GFiber Prepaid, which has gathered more than 700,000 subscribers as of September.

It is also drawing bigger equity from its share in Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), the parent of e-wallet giant GCash.

Globe’s share in the equity earnings of Mynt rose by over half to P5.3 billion, accounting for 25 percent of the telco’s net income before tax.

Globe president and CEO Carl Cruz also entered into a multi-year partnership for the telco with Amazon Web Services. Through this, AWS will be supplying Globe with a suite of cloud services that it would require as data consumption hikes.

Cruz said the data usage of Filipinos is projected to grow by three times in the short term. This is why Globe is preparing ahead of the curve by tapping AWS for cloud infrastructure.

Cruz believes that Globe can return to growth mode by relying on its value proposition of elevating the digital experience of its every subscriber.

“We remain steadfast in our vision of becoming the most valuable, trusted and admired operator in the country in the medium term, investing in world-class connectivity and driving innovations that help build a more inclusive and digitally-empowered Philippines,” Cruz said.