Converge ICT Solutions Inc. said Tuesday its net income grew 17 percent in the first quarter of 2024, driven by a surge in new subscribers and a lower customer churn rate.
The company said net profit amounted to P2.6 billion from January to March, higher than P2.2 billion in the same period last year.
Consolidated revenues went up by 10.4 percent to P9.5 billion from P8.6 billion last year, reinforcing the company’s position as the fastest-growing fixed broadband service provider in the Philippines.
Its residential business grew 10 percent to P8.2 billion from last year’s earnings of P7.3 billion.
The company’s consolidated subscriber base reached 2,252,845 with total net additions of 124,793 across all brands.
Consolidated average monthly churn rates dropped 1.82 percent in the first quarter of the year.
Enterprise revenues rose 10.5 percent to P1.4 billion in the first quarter, up from P1.2 billion in the same period last year.
Christine Renee Blabagno, chief finance officer of Converge, said the company budgeted between P12 billion and P14 billion for 2024 capital expenditures, lower than the initially planned capex of P17 billion to P19 billion.
Blabagno attributed the lower capex to the delay in the completion of Bifrost Cable System project and the agreed payment for the data center project is set next year.
“The international subsea cable is pushed back to first quarter of 2025. So, the P5 billion allotted for that will come in on the 2025 and the payment for data center will come in next year,” she said.
Meanwhile, Converge appointed Robert Yu as the new chief financial officer of the company. Prior to joining Converge as CFO, Robert was part of Malaysia-headquartered private equity firm Creador which handles $2.3 billion in funds across South and Southeast Asia.
He also served as a consultant at Converge from 2018 to 2019, putting in place a strategic and efficient capital structure plan for the company based on its performance and projected growth.
“We’re glad to welcome Robert back to Converge. We’re confident that his breadth of experience in corporate financial planning and strategizing will keep Converge in a solid financial footing and will be a strong addition to the leadership team,” said Converge president and co-founder Grace Uy.
“The goal is to take Converge to the next phase of its evolution as a company, without taking any undue risks. The short-term plan is to make sure that all our upcoming investments are prudently funded, striking a balance of reinvesting internally generated cash flow and utilizing external sources of funds,” Yu said.
“Over the long-term term, Converge will be in a solid financial position that rewards all stakeholders,” he said.
