Globe Telecom Inc. said Tuesday it may spend between $1.7 billion and $1.8 billion this year and next to expand its mobile and broadband netwaorks.
“We do spend as necessary. If you look at the numbers, we went $750 million in 2015, $1 billion in 2016, $850 million in 2017 and projecting over $850 [million] to $900 million in 2018,” Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu said in a news briefing.
When asked if the level of capex would continue next year, Cu said: “Certainly, I think, on my opinion, yes. It will be around that ballpark.”
Globe budgeted P42.5 billion or $844 million for its 2017 capex to support the growing subscriber base and demand for data. Of the total capex last year, about 82 percent was for data services.
Globe now has 37,517 base stations, with over 24,700 for 4G3 (fourth generation capability), to support the service requirements of customers.
“We are confident that our continued investments in our network’s data capacity and coverage, will allow us to continue to provide superior customer experience and improve the over-all connectivity in the country, while building a solid foundation to deliver sustainable long-term growth and shareholder value,” Cu said.
Globe posted a net income of P15.1 billion last year, down 5 percent from P15.9 billion in 2016 after increased investments in data network pushed non-operating expenses and depreciation charges higher.
The 2-percent increase in non- operating expenses was largely due to the increase in interest expenses and spectrum amortization related to the acquisition of San Miguel Corp.’s telco assets.
Globe’s core net income, which excludes the impact of non-recurring charges, and foreign exchange and mark-to-market charges, also fell 15 percent year-on-year to P13.5 billion from P16 billion in 2016, with the full-year impact of the SMC telco asset acquisition.
Consolidated revenues rose 6 percent to P127.9 billion in 2017 from P120.59 million in 2016, with mobile revenues increasing 7 percent to P98.5 billion from P92.3 billion on sustained mobile data revenue growth.
Globe had 60.69 million subscribers as of end-2017, up 2 percent from P59.33 million a year ago.