Converge 9-mo earnings up 29%

Converge ICT Solutions Inc. increased its nine-month net income by 29 percent to P8.2 billion, owing to robust revenue growth driven by a bigger residential consumer base.

In a disclosure on Wednesday, the fiber service company reported its consolidated revenues rose by 14 percent to P29.9 billion.

The top line was lifted by the residential business, whose revenues climbed by 13.2 percent to P25.4 billion.

Household coverage

As of end-September, Converge has 2.46 million residential customers, 20 percent more than last year. Its household coverage grew to 63.94 percent from the previous year’s 62.93 percent.

Revenues from the enterprise segment improved by 19 percent to P4.5 billion. Client base rose by 37.9 percent to 63,055.

So far this year, the internet service provider has spent P7.5 billion in capital expenditures (capex) for expansion plans. Converge set a capex guidance of P12 billion to P14 billion this year for subsea cable projects, among others.

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Submarine cable project

The listed company is on track to activate the South-East Asia Hainan-Hong Kong Express (SEA-H2X) fiber cable system next year. The 5,000-kilometer (km) submarine cable project, which has a design capacity of 160 terabits per second (Tbps), traverses six markets including Hong Kong, China, Thailand, East Malaysia and Singapore.

Apart from SEA-H2X, Converge is also building the 15,000-km BiFrost Cable System, which will connect the Philippines to Singapore, Indonesia, Guam and the west coast of North America. This project, which has a capacity of up to 15 Tbps, is targeted to be finished by next year.

The company has also started building a 10-megawatt (MW) data center in Pampanga and another 3-MW hub in Metro Manila, which are expected to be completed next year.