Globe Telecom saw earnings jump in the first quarter of 2018, led in particular by an increase in mobile revenues and data usage, an area that has received a big slice of investments in recent years.
Globe announced on Monday that core net income rose over 29 percent to P4.8 billion compared to the same period in 2017. Its net income stood at P4.7 billion, up 23.6 percent.
Globe CEO Ernest Cu attributed the gains to increasing smartphone adoption and the accompanying jump in mobile data usage. The firm also hit 63.3 million mobile subscribers as of end-March, an increase of 8 percent.
Mobile revenues during the first quarter reached P25.5 billion, accounting for the lion’s share of Globe’s service revenues of P33.2 billion, which went up 6.7 percent year-on-year. Globe said mobile data revenues alone hit P12.3 billion.
The company is setting aside $850 million (P44 billion) for 2018, mainly to boost its data network. Cu said Globe would revisit spending projections in the third quarter, including a possible increase in capital investments for the year.
Globe is also in talks with third-party groups for the establishment of a tower company. It tapped UBS as adviser, Globe chief finance officer Rosemarie Maniego-Eala said on Monday.