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Introduction & Market Context
Globe Telecom (OTC:GTMEY) Inc (PSE:GLO) presented its first quarter 2025 financial results on May 13, 2025, revealing a company in strategic transition. While traditional telecom revenues remained flat or declined, the company’s digital ventures—particularly its GCash fintech platform—drove significant profit growth. The stock recently traded at PHP 1,893, down 2.01% from its previous close.
As shown in the company’s performance highlights, Globe achieved mixed results across its business segments, with its diversification strategy showing early signs of success:
Quarterly Performance Highlights
Globe reported consolidated gross service revenues of PHP 39.9 billion for Q1 2025, down 3% both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year. Despite this revenue decline, the company’s EBITDA reached PHP 20.8 billion with a robust margin of 52.1%, representing a 3% increase year-on-year despite a 5% sequential decline.
Most notably, Core Net Income surged to PHP 4.5 billion, up 17% quarter-on-quarter and 22% year-on-year, highlighting the company’s improved operational efficiency and strategic pivot toward higher-margin digital services.
The mobile business, which remains Globe’s largest revenue segment, generated PHP 28.3 billion in Q1 2025, down 2% quarter-on-quarter but up 3% year-on-year. The revenue mix continues to shift dramatically toward data services, which now account for 85% of mobile revenues, while traditional voice and SMS services continue their expected decline:
Globe’s mobile subscriber base expanded to 61.6 million, representing growth of 1% quarter-on-quarter and 5% year-on-year. Mobile data traffic reached 1,537 EB, up 2% quarter-on-quarter and 5% year-on-year, though average data usage per user declined 7% year-on-year to 14.4 GB monthly. The company highlighted improvements in 5G adoption, with 5G average traffic per user increasing 3% month-on-month and overall 5G mobile traffic growing 9% month-on-month:
Strategic Initiatives
GCash Drives Non-Telco Growth
The most significant growth driver for Globe comes from its non-telco businesses, particularly GCash (operated by Mynt). Globe’s equity share in Mynt reached PHP 1.8 billion in Q1 2025, representing extraordinary growth of 503% quarter-on-quarter and 86% year-on-year. GCash now contributes 22% of Globe’s net income before tax, up from 11% in the previous year, underscoring the success of Globe’s diversification strategy:
GCash has cemented its position as the Philippines’ leading cashless ecosystem, with 8 in 10 Filipinos using the service and 6 million merchants and social sellers accepting GCash payments. The platform has expanded beyond payments into financial services, with loans disbursed growing 87% year-on-year, wealth management users increasing 30%, and insurance policies sold surging 123%.
Data Center Expansion
Globe is also investing strategically in data center infrastructure through STT GDC Philippines, which currently operates facilities at 75% utilization. The company is on track to expand from 22MW IT capacity today to 33MW by the end of 2025 and 52MW by 2026.
Two new data centers are scheduled to come online in 2025: STT Fairview in Q2 and STT Cavite 2 in Q3. The company has also launched an AI Synergy Lab, positioning STT GDC Philippines as the first data center in the country running AI workflows with direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology.
Detailed Financial Analysis
Globe’s capital expenditures declined significantly to PHP 8.5 billion in Q1 2025, down 38% year-on-year, with a CAPEX-to-revenue ratio of 21%. This reduction follows several years of heavy network investments and signals the company’s transition toward positive free cash flow:
The majority of capital expenditures (92%) were allocated to data-related investments, with Globe building 487 new cell sites, installing 235 5G sites, and upgrading 3,940 mobile sites during the quarter.
Globe’s network investments have earned recognition, with Ookla naming Globe the "Most Consistent Network in the Philippines" from 2022 to 2024. The company also received the "Excellent All-Optical Network for AI Enablement" award at the Mobile World Congress 2025:
On the balance sheet, Globe reported cash of PHP 18.7 billion and gross debt of PHP 242.0 billion, resulting in gross debt to EBITDA of 2.54x and net debt to EBITDA of 2.34x. The company’s debt service coverage ratio stands at 3.11x.
The board declared a second quarter cash dividend of PHP 25 per share, with a payment date of June 5, 2025, and a record date of May 26, 2025.
Forward-Looking Statements
Looking ahead to the full year 2025, Globe provided a consolidated outlook that includes:
- Low to mid-single digit percentage revenue growth
- EBITDA margin of approximately 50%
- Cash CAPEX of PHP 1.0 billion
- Positive free cash flow by 2025
The company’s strategic focus continues to shift toward digital services, particularly GCash and data centers, while maintaining its core telecommunications infrastructure. With traditional telecom services like voice and SMS declining, Globe’s diversification strategy appears well-timed to ensure continued growth and profitability in an evolving digital landscape.
Full presentation:
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