MOBILE services operator Globe Telecom Inc. has borrowed P7 billion from the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) to finance the listed wireless services provider’s capital requirements for this year.
Globe CFO Alberto M. de Larrazabal said on Friday his company has signed a P5-billion, 10-year loan plus a $45-million seven-year term facility with Metrobank to further drive the telco’s digital initiatives.
“This new loan facility from Metrobank will help us address the demands of our customers in their continuing shift to a digital lifestyle. Globe is committed to invest in additional network capacities to handle the robust growth in data traffic from our customers,” he said.
As of end-June, the company has spent P11.4 billion of its roughly P39-billion capital expenditure program this year. The bulk of the investment was allocated for data-related projects, including investments for the company’s broadband network, capacities for wireless data, LTE, and its domestic and international transmission facilities.
The company aims to end the year with at least P100 billion in revenues as it beefs up its core businesses, by relying on its multimillion-dollar data infrastructure modernization program this year.
Globe now relies on its digital offerings to optimize its bottom line potential. It has launched several programs that aim to stimulate the use of mobile data in the country.
The telco which tags itself as the purveyor of the digital lifestyle has partnered with content providers, such as Facebook, Viber, Spotify, NBA and Hooq, enabling the company to build a portfolio of products and services that provide relevant content to fit its customers’ digital lifestyle.
This allowed Globe to continue capitalizing on these partnerships to further seed data adoption among its customers.
Globe strengthened its leadership in mobile data business after it registered in the January-to-June period P9.5 billion in mobile browsing and other data revenues, a 53-percent growth from previous year’s level of P6.2 billion in the first six months of the year.
The firm closed the first half with P8.7 billion in net income, a 27-percent rise compared to the profit the year prior. Revenues rose by 13 percent to P53.8 billion, while operating expenses and subsidy increased by a slower 9 percent to P31.18 billion from P28.62 billion.
