Globe Telecom’s net income (after tax) increased 198 per cent in the first nine months of the year to PHP10.52 billion ($233.8 million) as strong growth in both fixed-line data and mobile broadband drove an 8 per cent rise in overall revenue.

Mobile revenue at the second largest Philippine operator, which accounted for 79 per cent of its total revenue of PHP72.7 billion, was up 6 per cent to PHP57.5 billion, but the strongest growth came from fixed-line data and broadband, which both expanded by 16 per cent during the quarter.

Mobile voice was up 8 per cent and fixed voice was up 7 per cent.

Globe expanded its broadband connections 36 per cent to 2.5 million from a year ago. Its mobile connections increased 17 per cent to 42.9 million. The big boost was in prepaid, which rose 18 per cent to 40.7 million, while its postpaid base increased 9 per cent to 2.16 million.

ARPU for prepaid, which it splits into two brands – Globe and TM – was down 8 and 10 per cent (to PHP130 and PHP79) respectively, and postpaid ARPU declined 2 per cent to PHP1,174 ($26.10). The churn rate for postpaid rose to 2.5 per cent from 1.8 per cent a year ago. The churn rate for its two prepaid brands was up slightly — 6.2 per cent and 6.8 per cent.

Its operating expenses and subsidies rose 10 per cent to PHP42.9 billion in the January-September period.

Core income increased 22 per cent to PHP11.6 billion during the nine-month period compared to a year ago. Core income excludes non-recurring items such as accelerated depreciation charges related to network expansion and market-to-market changes.

Its EBITDA rose 5 per cent to PHP42.9 billion, while its EBITDA margin dropped 1 percentage point to 41 per cent.