Globe revenues breach P100-B mark

Globe Telecom posted another banner year in 2015, saying profit rose to a record as revenues cleared the P100-billion mark and subscriber growth surged.

Globe said in a stock exchange filing that core profit last year grew 4 percent to P15.1 billion, removing gains related to the sale of its 51-percent stake in Yondu Inc. and the acquisition of Bayan Telecommunications last year.

Total service revenues for the year rose 15 percent to P113.7 billion, driven largely by the explosion in demand for Internet services and smartphones that third-party studies projected would continue to grow in the coming years.

“The sustained revenue trajectory was driven by the solid growth in data consumption across all segments and the consolidation of the performance of Bayan Telecommunications in the second half of the year,” Globe said in its filing.

Amid a mature and saturated mobile market, Globe said mobile subscribers hit 52.9 million, up 20 percent, last year. It said this was partly due to aggressive acquisitions through 2015 and low churn rates in its prepaid brands.

Globe noted that mobile revenue was up 9 percent to P85.1 billion. Its postpaid business grew revenues 7 percent, the filing showed.