Globe Telecom 1H net profit rises 9%

Globe Telecom, Inc.'s first-half net profit rose 9% to PHP5.49 billion from a year earlier on a sustained recovery in its cellular business and the addition of more broadband customers, it said Tuesday. Net profit was PHP5.05 billion in the first half of 2010. Consolidated service revenue improved 7% to PHP33.0 billion, from PHP30.7 billion, the Philippines' second-largest telecommunications company by sales said. Net profit in the second quarter stood at PHP2.51 billion, up 19% from the year-earlier period but down 16% compared with that reported in the first quarter. Revenue in the quarter rose 7% to PHP16.55 billion. "We are pleased to have delivered solid results in a very tough and intensely competitive environment. We are committed to building on this momentum into the second half of the year," Chief Executive Ernest Cu said in a statement. Globe Telecom said it ended the half with 28.4 million mobile phone subscribers, up 15% from the same period a year ago. In the second quarter, the company had a net addition of 1.11 million cellular subscribers, the most for any quarter over the past three years. Its broadband service attracted 113,000 new subscribers in the second quarter, pushing total subscribers at the end of June to 1.29 million. At the end of June last year, Globe Telecom had 930,000 broadband subscribers. It said broadband revenue climbed 42% to PHP3.65 billion in the first half from PHP2.57 billion. Globe Telecom said capital expenditure in the first half stood at PHP8.64 billion, down around 16% and less than half the planned PHP21.8 billion capital spending for 2011. It did not elaborate. The company declared its second semi-annual cash dividend of PHP31 a share to stockholders on record Aug. 22. The cash dividend, which will be paid on Sept. 19, will bring Globe Telecom's total payment this year to PHP62 a share, or a total of PHP8.2 billion, around 84% of the company's 2010 net profit.