MANILA, Philippines – Telecommunications giant Globe reported impressive financials for the 1st quarter of 2019, with its core net income jumping by 40% to P6.7 billion, the company announced on Monday, May 6.

Globe’s revenues also grew by 13% to P36 billion compared to the same quarter in 2018, on the back of sustained increases in data usage. (READ: Mobile data boosts Globe’s net income to P18.4 billion in 2018)

Mobile revenues for the quarter grew to P27 billion, 11% higher than the same period in 2018 and 4% higher than the previous quarter, mostly coming from prepaid brands. Of this figure, mobile data revenues amounted to P16.5 billion due to strong consumer spending on mobile data.

Mobile data traffic grew from 180 petabytes in the 1st quarter of 2018 to 370 petabytes in the same period in 2019. 

ONGOING: @enjoyGLOBE officials discuss the company’s 1st quarter 2019 performance. Globe closed the first 3 months of 2019 with consolidated service revenues of P36 billion, up 13% from a year ago and 3% higher from prior quarter. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/LIcgTTJHBj

— Ralf Rivas (@RalfRivas) May 6, 2019

Meanwhile, mobile voice and mobile text messaging revenues for the period just ended posted P6.3 billion and P4.2 billion, lower year-on-year by 15% and 22%, respectively, further showing the consumer shift to mobile data.

Home broadband posted a 21% increase from a year ago and 3% against the prior quarter to P5.2 billion. Globe’s total home broadband subscriber base now stands at over 1.7 million, 22% higher than a year ago.

“For 2019, we are confident in our ability to maintain this strong growth momentum with the aggressive investments in the network, coupled with the evolving lifestyle bundles that aim to strongly influence the digital life of Filipinos,” said Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu.

Globe already spent some P8.8 billion, 24% of topline revenues. Most or 68% of the total expenditures were for data-related services.

The company has several plans to further enhance customer experience, including the rollout of 5G in June. – Rappler.com