Globe Telecom said on Monday that it plans to further reduce its 2025 capital expenditure (capex) to below USD1 billion as part of its ongoing cost management strategy. Carlo Puno, incoming president and CEO, confirmed that Globe is finalizing its capex plans but emphasized the direction toward lowering capital outlays in the coming years.
“We have gone to the market the past few quarters with the signal of dropping cash capex to below USD1 billion,” Puno said.
The company began scaling back its capital expenditures in 2023, following a significant P101 billion outlay in 2022. For 2023, Globe reduced its capex to P71 billion and is on track to further lower this amount to about P60 billion (or $1 billion) in 2024.
The majority of Globe’s proposed capex will be financed by proceeds from its ongoing tower sale expected to generate between P10 billion and P11 billion, although the full collection has yet to be completed.
In terms of revenue, Globe remains on track to meet its growth target of a low to mid-single-digit this year. For the first nine months of 2024, the telecom giant posted consolidated gross service revenue of P124 billion, marking a 2 percent annual increase.
Net income for the period reached P20.6 billion, up 6 percent from P19.4 billion in the same period last year. Globe’s mobile business generated P87.7 billion in revenue, surpassing its previous peak of P83.2 billion in 2023. Its corporate data business also posted a new record, generating P15.5 billion in revenue, up 14 percent from the previous year.
However, the company’s home broadband segment experienced a 6 percent decline in revenues to P17.9 billion, largely attributed to the reduction in fixed wireless services. As consumers increasingly switch to fiber-optic broadband, the total home broadband subscriber base dropped 3 percent to nearly 1.7 million, down from 1.75 million in 2023.
Globe also reported a sharp 56 percent drop in its non-telecom revenue, falling to P1.8 billion from P4.1 billion last year. The decrease was attributed to the deconsolidation of ECPay, following the sale of Globe’s 77 percent stake to Mynt.
Despite these challenges, Globe remains focused on driving growth in its core telecommunications business, with plans to continue optimizing its investments while adjusting to shifting market dynamics.
