Globe taps SRO proceeds to fund enterprise segment

MANILA, Philippines — Mobile giant Globe Telecom Inc. has spent all of the P17 billion proceeds from its stock rights offering (SRO), disbursing the remainder of the capital to improve its enterprise services.

In a regulatory filing, Globe reported the full disbursement of the P16.74 billion proceeds from the SRO it initiated in 2022, investing bulk of the amount for capital expenditures.

Globe has released P279.68 million for the enterprise group in the first quarter, marking the complete issuance of the proceeds gained from the SRO.

With this, Globe directed 60 percent or P10.04 billion of the proceeds for capex in line with its goal of enhancing its infrastructure network. In particular, the firm spent P4.52 billion for mobile buildup and P3.41 billion for common infrastructure.

Globe also invested P1.51 billion for broadband expansion and P602.62 million for the enterprise group. As planned, the Ayala-led telco used the other 40 percent or P6.7 billion to trim its debt balance by settling outstanding loans.

Last year Globe embarked on a fundraising activity by listing 10.12 million common shares that it added to its equity.

Afterward, the mobile firm succeeded in selling the common shares at P1,680 each to generate a total of P17 billion, marking its return to the equity market after more than two decades since last issuing new stocks.

For 2023, Globe will bring down its capex by 30 percent to $1.3 billion – or about P72 billion – from a high of P89 billion in 2022, as the firm looks to cash in on the network upgrades it invested on in previous years.

Outside of telco, Globe is making progress in widening the reach of its staffing services through the Asticom Group of Companies. Asticom’s end-to-end subsidiary Acquiro has created 300 jobs since launching in January to the benefit of over 1,300 talents in tech and non-tech industries.

Acquiro deputy general manager Ged Gutierrez said job creation would be scaled up in the coming months to generate additional opportunities in several industries. The initiative will also support Asticom’s objective of opening up 15,000 jobs in the next five years.

“Our expansion efforts reflect Acquiro’s dedication to helping both talents and businesses adapt to the ever-changing modern workplace,” Gutierrez said.

Acquiro was spun off from Asticom’s staffing solutions business to serve as a bridge for talents looking for jobs, whether part-time, hybrid or gig, in industries like financial technology, health, information technology and telco.