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GCash’s parent company Mynt accounts for 12% of Globe’s net income before tax
MANILA, Philippines – Despite a 1% decline in its 2024 net income, Globe Telecom ended the year with record revenues of P165 billion thanks to growing contributions from its e-wallet GCash.
The Ayala-owned telco giant’s net income slipped to P24.3 billion due to lower sale and leaseback closings from tower sales in 2024. “Higher depreciation expenses and non-operating charges further weighed on performance,” Globe said in a disclosure.
Globe’s mobile and corporate data businesses held the fort for its topline, contributing 83% to revenues. It noted that the shift in data-driven services helped offset declining contributions from mobile texts and calls.
Despite the 5% decline in its home broadband business revenues, the telco giant noted growing revenues from its prepaid fiber broadband service GFiber Prepaid, with its number of subscribers growing 16%.
For Globe’s president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu, this growth reflected a budding market for prepaid fiber broadband services.
“It truly delivers and validates our belief that there’s a substantial prepaid market for fiber and that delivering the right product will yield very good results,” he said during a briefing on the telco giant’s earnings.
Meanwhile, non-telco revenues dropped 47% due to the deconsolidation of electronic payment system provider ECPay after a 77% stake was sold to Mynt.
Globe’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 7% to a new all-time high of P86.6 billion. Its EBITDA margins also exceeded expectations as 52.6% — a sign of expense management while maintaining profitability.
EBITDA margins often measure how much cash profit a company made in a year.
Dominant results from GCash
GCash’s parent company Mynt accounted for 12% of Globe’s net income before tax as the e-wallet solidified itself as a preferred platform for digital financial services. Globe’s share in Mynt’s equity earnings account for P3.8 billion, 59% more than 2023’s P2.4 billion.
According to Globe, 80% of Filipinos have used GCash. Around 92% of its customer base includes low- to lower-middle income Filipinos, while 78% of its users are from outside Metro Manila.
Unique borrowers of its loan products doubled year-on-year. Meanwhile, users of its stock investment platform GStocks grew 401% year-on-year.
Cu also highlighted that GCash payments allow users to make digital payments in the Middle East, China, Japan and other southeast Asian countries.
“This is a very big development because we all know how difficult it is to pay when you are traveling in China. And also the fact that most credit cards, western credit card brands are not accepted in China, but it gives you a clear alternative to be able to pay digitally within that country,” he said.
Mynt doubled its valuation to $5 billion following fresh capital from Ayala Corporation and the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
For 2025, Globe expects capital expenditures to fall below $1 billion as it aims to ensure sustainable growth and optimize capital. – Rappler.com
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