Globe Telecom Inc. raised its capital expenditures (capex) for 2021 by almost a tenth to P76 billion after its board approved additional network projects for the remainder of the year.
Rizza Maniego-Eala, the company’s CFO, said that the board has approved additional network projects amounting to P18 billion, but noted that the actual impact on the programmed capex for the year is only P6 billion.
Globe earlier programmed a capex of P70 billion, already a 16-percent increase from the P60.3-billion capex in 2020.
“On the additional P18 billion of capex availment, 90 percent of that will be spent on data related requirements. Out of the P18 billion, only P6 billion will hit our cash capex such that our guidance moves from P70 billion to P76 billion for 2021,” she said during a press briefing on Monday.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Globe announced that it will spend 88 percent of the budget on data, 6 percent on business support, 5 percent on core requirements, and a percentage on miscellaneous investments.
So far, Globe has spent P43.3 billion of its programmed capex for 2021.
Globe’s net income rose by 13 percent to P13 billion during the first half of 2021 from P11.5 billion in the same period the year prior, owing to the favorable effects of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) Law.
Its consolidated services revenues increased by 4 percent to P75.5 billion from P72.4 billion, driven largely by its fixed and mobile businesses.
Eala noted that Globe is looking at growing its service revenues in the “low single-digit” mark this year.
Shares in Globe were down by P5 apiece to close at P1,980 on Monday.
In June, Globe announced that it raised P12 billion in fresh capital after two local banks extended loan facilities to the telco to bankroll the company’s massive capital investments for the year.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Globe said it has signed a P7-billion term loan facility with Philippine National Bank (PNB) and another P5-billion loan with China Banking Corp.
In May Globe announced that it secured a $100-million loan from the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd., which will help bankroll the company’s capital expenditures for 2021.
Globe is modernizing its network to make 5G as well as fiber technology available to more customers nationwide as part of the company’s effort to help the country achieve a “First World Network.”