Data demand, GCash popularity lift Globe income by 6%

The growth of e-wallet GCash and heightened data consumption lifted the nine-month income of Globe Telecom Inc. by 6 percent, allowing the company to stay the course to reach its revenue target for the year.

In a disclosure on Friday, the Ayala-led telco giant reported its bottom line grew to P20.6 billion in the period ending September from P19.4 billion in the same period a year ago.

Total revenues inched up by 2 percent to P124 billion.

READ: GCash to expand reach to 10 new markets abroad

GCash parent company Mynt contributed a record P3.5 billion—more than double that of last year—to Globe’s top line. This represented 14 percent of the telco player’s pretax net income, which was higher than the 6-percent share last year.

“Mynt, Globe’s fintech arm, sustained its growth trajectory, solidifying its position as the dominant cashless ecosystem in the Philippines,” the company said.

GCash, which had achieved a $5-billion valuation, currently has a user base of 94 million. The company wants to expand to 10 more countries, from its current 16 markets, to reach more Filipinos abroad.

The revenue contribution of Globe’s mobile and corporate data businesses, on the other hand, grew to 83 percent.

READ: Ayala to sell 50% stake in GCash for P18 billion

Mobile data revenues rose by 9 percent to P72.9 billion because of “Filipinos’ growing dependence on mobile applications for a wide range of online activities,” Globe said.

Mobile data traffic during the period in review rose to 4,843 petabytes from 4,360 petabytes last year. Due to a shift to internet-based communications like social media and video conferencing platforms, traditional mobile voice and short messaging service revenues dropped by 5 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

For corporate data, revenues climbed by 14 percent to P15.5 billion as enterprise clients ramped up digitalization efforts.

5G expansion

Globe spent P41 billion in capital expenditures during the period to fund the expansion of its telco infrastructure. It built 684 new cell sites and upgraded 2,723 existing mobile sites.

The telco giant also deployed an additional 378 5G sites. As a result, the 5G coverage in the National Capital Region has reached 98.51 percent. 5G, which enables faster internet connection, is also now available in 94.91 percent of key cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.

This year, Globe estimated a low to mid-single-digit revenue growth, which it said would be driven by higher data consumption.

“Our focus remains on unlocking value as a hyperfocused digital company, winning customers through network improvement and digital innovations while strengthening our core telco business,” Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said.