Globe Telecom is a useful reminder that a record top line does not automatically mean a fatter bottom line. The company reported net income of P11 billion for the first half of 2026, down 11% from P12.4 billion a year earlier, even as consolidated service revenue rose 6% to a record P85.4 billion.
The revenue side genuinely fired. Service revenue beat the previous high of P82.8 billion set in 2024. Mobile, still the engine, grew 6% to P60.4 billion, with data now making up 89% of mobile revenue and the subscriber base reaching 67.7 million by the end of June. Globe Business, the enterprise arm, hit a record P11 billion of its own.
So why did profit fall? Costs, mostly. Operating expenses and subsidies rose 6% to P40.5 billion, and the company booked smaller gains from the dilution of its stake in Mynt, the fintech venture behind GCash. Globe also pointed to the wider weather it is operating in: volatile macro conditions, still-elevated inflation and higher oil prices. Core net income, which smooths out one-offs, was down just 2% at P10.2 billion, suggesting the underlying business held up better than the headline drop implies.
Mynt is quietly becoming the story. Globe’s share of its earnings came in at P3.7 billion, and the fintech arm now accounts for 28% of pre-tax income, up from 26%. Cash flow, measured as EBITDA, rose 6% to P44.9 billion at a healthy 52.6% margin.
“These results reflect disciplined execution, the resilience of our business model,” CEO Carl Cruz said, pointing to the strength of the core business. That is the right framing. A telco growing revenue to a record while defending margins in a rough macro climate is not a company in trouble. It is one absorbing higher costs today and leaning harder on data and fintech for where the growth goes next.
