Globe Telecom reported a consolidated net income of PHP 7 billion for the first quarter of 2025, up 3% year-on-year, driven by strong equity earnings from Mynt and a one-time gain from Mynt’s equity dilution. Core net income, which excludes non-recurring items, stood at PHP 4.5 billion, down 22% from last year due to higher interest expenses.
Why It Matters: Globe’s latest financial results show that despite a slight drop in service revenues, the company maintained profitability through cost control and growth in its fiber and fintech ventures, which are becoming more central to its long-term strategy.
Total gross service revenues declined by 3% to PHP 39.9 billion, mainly due to lower earnings from its mobile and home broadband segments. The mobile business, which remained the largest revenue source at PHP 28.3 billion, saw a 3% drop as traditional voice and SMS revenues continued to fall. Mobile data, however, inched up by 1% year-on-year to PHP 24.1 billion and accounted for 85% of total mobile revenues.
Globe’s home broadband revenues fell by 5% to PHP 5.8 billion, mainly because of the continued shift from fixed wireless to fiber services. Fiber now accounts for nearly 90% of total broadband revenues. Globe’s fixed-wired subscribers increased to 1.4 million, while its total home broadband user base rose to 1.83 million.
Its prepaid fiber product, GFiber Prepaid (GFP), saw rapid adoption with subscribers hitting 400,000 in Q1, a 53% increase from the previous quarter. Reload rates for GFP reached 70%, the highest among prepaid fiber brands in the Philippines.
Corporate data revenues came in at PHP 4.9 billion, slightly lower than last year due to a 15% drop in core data services. Growth in ICT offerings like cybersecurity and business applications helped cushion the decline.
Operating expenses (including subsidy) dropped 4% to PHP 19.1 billion, reflecting Globe’s focus on financial discipline. This helped maintain EBITDA at PHP 20.8 billion, translating to a healthy 52.1% margin.
Mynt, the operator of GCash, contributed PHP 1.8 billion in equity earnings, an 86% jump from last year. This accounts for 22% of Globe’s pre-tax income. Globe also booked a PHP 2.6 billion gain from Mynt’s ownership dilution following an 8% stake acquisition by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
In terms of investments, Globe’s capital expenditures fell by 38% to PHP 8.5 billion. Despite the lower spend, the company deployed 4,871 new cell sites, upgraded 3,940 existing ones to LTE, and installed over 17,500 fiber-to-the-home lines. Globe also rolled out 235 new 5G sites, bringing its 5G coverage to nearly 99% of Metro Manila and 98% in key Visayas and Mindanao cities.
As of March 2025, Globe has transferred 6,849 out of the 7,506 towers in its sale and leaseback deals, generating PHP 87.9 billion in total proceeds.
Looking ahead, Globe said it remains focused on growing its enterprise services, expanding its fiber footprint, and strengthening its digital financial ecosystem.
What do you think of Globe’s shift toward fiber and fintech to offset declining mobile revenue?
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