GLOBE SEALS P 15-B LOANS WITH LOCAL BANKS TO UPGRADE NETWORK

Globe Telecom has secured P15 billion via loan deals with local banks to support its network modernization and debt refinancing.

The telco giant said in a stock exchange filing on Friday it signed separate term-loan agreements with BDO Unibank Inc. and Land Bank of the Philippines for P10 billion and P5 billion, respectively.

The funds will help support the company’s expansion given the surging use of mobile and fixed-line internet.

Higher smartphone usage

Globe previously announced that mobile traffic alone jumped 55 percent to 2,730 petabytes as of September this year given higher smartphone usage.

The newly signed loan deals accounted for nearly 20 percent of the company’s estimated P76-billion capital spending program for the year. Globe said it would also use the proceeds to refinance existing loans.

As of September, Globe had spent about P65.4 billion of its full-year budget—exceeding last year’s total figure of P60.3 billion.

Upgrading sites

It added that 84 percent of the capex investment went to data network building to address and elevate mobile and internet experience for a great-Yuchengco-led er number of Filipinos.

“As part of Globe’s campaign to deliver first-world connectivity to Filipinos, the company sustained its network build momentum with 1,080 new cell sites, upgrading at least 12,900 sites including both 4G LTE and 5G,” the company said.

Globe also installed over one million fiber-to-the-home lines given strong demand for fixed-line internet services.

It earlier reported that core profits from January to September this year rose 17 percent to P18.3 billion while service revenue hit P113.6 billion, up 4 percent year-on-year and higher than the prepandemic figure.