Ayala-led Globe Telecom has published its results for the year to 31 December 2017, reporting consolidated service revenue of PHP127.91 billion (USD2.48 billion) up 6% from PHP120.59 billion in FY 2016, due it said: ‘to the increasing popularity of Globe’s data-related product and services across all business segments’ which was driven by the company’s promotion of its ‘digital lifestyle products … underpinned by a robust 3G and 4G network’. Mobile revenues climbed 7% year-on-year to PHP98.48 billion from the PHP92.26 billion reported in 2016, as its Globe Prepaid and TM brands posted revenue growth of 11% and 8%, respectively, while its Globe Postpaid product recorded a more modest 1% increase y-o-y. Consolidated operating costs, meanwhile, also increased 6% on an annualised basis to PHP74.58 billion, EBITDA was up 7% at PHP53.33 billion (EBITDA margin, 42%: up 1pp compared to FY 2016), core net income (i.e. excludes the impact of non-recurring charges, one-time gains, forex gains and mark-to-market charges) slumped 15% to PHP13.55 billion, and net income fell 5% to PHP15.08 billion from PHP15.89 billion.
The company closed out 31 December 2017 with a total of 60.686 million mobile subscribers, down 3% from the 62.799 million subscribers reported a year ago, which was attributed to the change in reporting of the company’s pre-paid subscribers from the start of 2017. Mobile service revenues accounted for 77% (PHP98.48 billion) of total consolidated service revenue for the year, up 7% from PHP92.26 billion, fuelled by the continued strong revenue contribution of PHP43.06 billion from mobile data (up 23%), which helped to partially offset the decline in traditional voice call services (down 5%) at PHP32.28 billion; mobile SMS turnover was unchanged at PHP23.15 billion. In a regulatory filing, Globe confirmed that ‘the sustained growth momentum in mobile data revenues was driven by rising consumption on streaming and on demand video content and the growing smartphone penetration’.
Turning to the fixed segment, Globe reported that its home broadband business also sustained its growth momentum in 2017. Full year revenue reached PHP15.65 billion, up 7% y-o-y, as the total subscriber base increased 15% to 1.301 million. The solid growth in revenues was driven, it said, by the continued customer expansion in fixed wireless users, up 26% at 655,441, while fixed (wired) broadband connections rose 6% to 645,720. Traditional fixed line voice revenues on the other hand, declined by 8% to PHP3.49 billion from PHP3.78 billion.