Globe Telecom taps P7-B Landbank loan

Globe Telecom Inc. is tapping long-term debt to finance capital expenditures next year, a filing Thursday at the Philippine Stock Exchange showed.

Globe, a unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp., said it signed a seven-year P7-billion term loan with the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines.

A company spokesperson said the company’s spending requirements for 2014 were still being reviewed.

Globe is in the process of completing succeeding phases of a massive network modernization program. It is likewise in the process of finalizing the takeover of Bayan Telecommunications Inc., which still requires the approval of the National Telecommunications Commission.

Globe, the country’s second-biggest telecommunications provider, earlier reported that net income from January to September dropped 48 percent to P3.53 billion even as service revenues rose 10 percent to P67.3 billion.

But removing the effect of charges such as the accelerated depreciation related to its massive network and IT upgrade, foreign exchange and mark-to-market losses, Globe said core earnings rose 9 percent to P9.5 billion.

Globe said in its financial filing that revenue growth was “broad-based,” led by its mobile, broadband and fixed-line business.

Mobile revenues continued to lead contributions at P54.1 billion, up 8 percent. This was due to the post-paid segment, which grew 20 percent. Miguel R. Camus