An increase in capital expenditure appears to have paid off for Philippines-based Globe Telecom, which reported a 7% profit increase for Q3.
Profit for the quarter hit 2.5 billion pesos ($57.75 million), while consolidated service revenue for the first 9 months increased 9% to 50 billion pesos.
Globe Telecom’s mobile and broadband businesses appear to have contributed significantly to its latest showing.
The firm’s mobile business saw a 7% service revenue increase to 39.7 billion pesos, while its broadband business grew service revenue 35% to 5.6 billion pesos.
Globe Telecom’s mobile business lifted its subscriber numbers 15% year-on-year to 29.1 million, while its broadband business (wired and wireless) saw a 41% increase in subscriber numbers to more than 1.3 million.
Operating expenses and subsidies increased 9% year-on-year to 23 billion pesos due to higher marketing and subsidy costs, and network related expenses also rose to support the firm’s growing mobile and broadband network.
An investor report from the firm said the impact of higher expenses had been cushioned by accompanying revenue growth, resulting in steady consolidated ebitda of 54%, comparable to last year.
Globe had earlier this year announced plans to boost network capacity to meet the market’s increasing demand for both voice and data services. The company’s board of directors had approved $500 million in capital expenditure for the year, of which $180 million would go toward 3G network expansion.