ABS-CBN News

Posted at Nov 12 2021 11:59 AM

MANILA - Globe Telecom said Friday its consolidated net income grew 13 percent to P18 billion for the first 9 months of the year from P15.9 billion in the same period last year due to improved performance of its fixed and wireless businesses and the impact of the CREATE law.

Core net income grew 17 percent to P18.3 billion from P15.6 billion in 2020, the telco said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

Consolidated service revenue reached P113.6 billion for the first 9 months, up 4 percent from the same comparable period, Globe said. Third quarter revenue was at P38.1 billion, it said. 

For the period, it installed over 1 million fiber-to-the-home lines, surpassing its target. For the full year, it expects to roll out 1.4 million FTTH lines, it said.

As part of its aggressive expansion drive, Globe also said it built 1,080 new cell sites within the period. It registered a "record-level" capital expenditure of P65.4 billion for the period, surpassing the total P60.3 billion last year.

Mobile data revenues reached P57.9 billion for the first 9 months from P53.7 billion a year ago as mobile data traffic surged to 2,730 petabytes from 1,762 petabytes in the same period last year, the telco said.

Meanwhile, home broadband revenues hit P22.4 billion for the period, up 15 percent compared to last year mainly due to pandemic-driven demand, it said.

"The rising data consumption and broadband usage in the country remain the biggest driver for this period's improved topline," the telco said. 

Globe said it is also offering digital solutions focused on high-growth areas such as fintech, healthtech, AdTech and e-commerce, among others.

"We believe that our strategy to use the telco business as a platform to become a digital solutions group... will embolden us to launch more potential unicorns in the near term and pave the way for us to become a leader in the digital space," its president Ernest Cu said.

Mynt, which operates GCash, recently achieved a double unicorn status following its recent round of funding. Globe said Mynt is the only Philippine startup included in Credit Suisse's Southeast Asia 35 Unicorns list.

GCash operator Mynt raises over $300 million in funding

Mynt, the fintech firm behind GCash on Tuesday said it has raised over $300 million (P15 billion) in funding which brought its value to "over $2 billion."

The round of funding was led by Warburg Pincus, private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners and existing investor Bow Wave Capital, it said in a statement. 

"This solidifies its status as the Philippines’ only unicorn, and as one of the leading fintech companies in Southeast Asia," Mynt said.

Also involved in this round of funding are Itai Tsiddon, Amplo Ventures as well as capital from Globe and Ayala Corporation, it added. 

“This is further proof that our growth and achievements have not gone unnoticed. We have been able to continuously expand by introducing game-changing innovations while improving our profitability profile," said Mynt president and CEO Martha Sazon.

GCash is estimated to have 48 million users with a projected P3 trillion in gross transaction value this year, a Reuters report said. 

Ant Financial, Alibaba's fintech arm, has interest in Mynt.

GCash secures $175-million funding from New York-based investors

Mobile wallet GCash has secured a $175-million investment from New York-based investors led by Bow Wave Capital Management, parent company Globe Fintech Innovations (Mynt) said Friday.

The transaction will raise the "valuation" of GCash to "close to $1 billion," Mynt said.

"Bow Wave supports the vision of Mynt to provide finance for all Filipinos. We are excited for this investment and we hope to add value to Mynt as it realizes its vision,” Itai Lemberger, Bow Wave founder and CIO, said.

GCash facilitated over P1 trillion in in-app transactions and raised customers to 33 million in 2020 driven by the faster adoption of online payments and money transfers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are further encouraged by the fact that Mynt’s momentum has continued, even as the country moved out of quarantine restrictions, suggesting a fundamental shift in our customers’ behavior towards a cashless lifestyle,” said Ernest L. Cu, chairman of the Board at Mynt.

GCash in no hurry for IPO as e-wallet value thickens to $1-B, posts profit

GCash is in no hurry to mount an IPO even as its valuation rises to nearly $1 billion and it posts its first profit after years of operations, its officials said on Monday. 

GCash, which boasts of over 43 million registered users and over 2.5 million merchants and social sellers, said its monthly gross transaction value has breached P200 billion and reached a milestone by achieving positive income last June

Mynt, the operator of GCash, has no problems with fundraising and doesn’t “need to go public right now,” said Ernest Cu, president and CEO of Globe Telecom, the parent firm of GCash.

Cu said that while there is a “clamor to list” GCash, there is no timeline set for the fintech powerhouse to go public. 

“We are not going to IPO for IPO’s sake,” Cu said during an online briefing on Globe Telecom’s second quarter results. 

Despite the company achieving profitability in June, Cu said that GCash’s focus is growth. 

“Growth remains the key driver because there are still so many opportunities out there that we can get into-- serve the public--because there are so many problems to be solved in terms of financial inclusion,” Cu said. 

Mynt president and CEO Martha Sazon meanwhile said that achieving profitability was a milestone for the fintech firm.

"What it also tells us is that now we know the levers to pull whether in revenues or costs to achieve a good financial position for GCash," Sazon said. 

The company is also on track to hit P3 trillion in transaction value this year, she said. GCash has also been moving into financial services like savings, credit, investments and insurance -- which is dominated by conventional banks.

Sazon reported that GCash’s investment service now has a 70 percent market share of UITF (unit investment trust fund) accounts, and its insurance services now makes up a third of new policies. 

Mynt is also looking to more than double its valuation to $2 billion in its future fundraising, Nikkei Asia reported last month quoting a top executive.

Cu meanwhile said the company "will take the valuation question as we go.” 

“Certainly, of course, the higher the better but we're also being realistic as far as the limitations of being based out of the Philippines."

"We certainly would endeavor to bring valuation as high as possible," Cu said in response to a reporter’s question on whether the company could become a “decacorn” or a startup valued at around $10 billion. 

"It's an aspiration and who knows we may get there."

Globe posted a net income of P13 billion in the first 6 months of 2021, higher by 13 percent compared to the same period last year, it said Friday.