The Philippines’ Globe Telecom reported a 43 per cent jump in Q1 net profit and double-digit revenue growth as mobile data revenue expanded 58 per cent.

The company’s net profit hit a record PHP4.2 billion ($93.65 million), while its EBITDA rose 25 per cent from a year ago to PHP11 billion. Its EBITDA margin rose to 42 per cent from 38 per cent a year ago.

Service revenue increased 13 per cent to PHP26.2 billion. Mobile revenue was up 10 per cent to PHP20.3 billion, with postpaid turnover rising 10 per cent to PHP7.8 billion and prepaid sales increasing 9 per cent to PHP12.5 billion. Mobile data rose year-on-year to PHP4.4 billion and accounted for 22 per cent of mobile service turnover.

The company said the surge in mobile data services was driven by its free Facebook and Viber campaigns and growing mobile browsing adoption among its subscriber base. Complementing mobile data growth, mobile voice revenues rose 5 per cent to PHP9.12 billion, offsetting a decline of international voice services and a 4 per cent drop in SMS revenue to PHP6.7 billion. SMS still accounted for 33 per cent of total mobile service revenues.

Globe, the country’s second largest operator with a 39 per cent market share, expanded its mobile customer base 13 per cent to 46.1 million. Prepaid subs rose 19 per cent, while its postpaid customer base increased 9 per cent.

Blended ARPU in Q1 declined 3 per cent to PHP151 due to what the company said was a combination of higher multi-SIM usage and continued pressures on yields caused by the shift to value-based unlimited offers.

Broadband subscribers jumped 41 per cent to surpass three million and broadband revenue increased 31 per cent to PHP3.7 billion.

Operating expenses and subsidies increased 5 per cent year-on-year to PHP15.2 billion.

“Despite an intensely competitive environment, we were able to sustain our growth momentum from our banner year in 2014,” said CFO Albert de Larrazabal.

Globe spent PHP4.9 billion on capex in the quarter, bringing the number of base stations to nearly 26,000. The company said it has started deploying its planned $500 million LTE network, with 5,000 LTE sites to be installed over the next 24 months.