Converge income rises as pandemic boosts demand

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

CONVERGE ICT Solutions, Inc. on Thursday said its attributable net income for the third quarter surged to P1.95 billion from P931.47 million in the same period a year earlier as demand continued to rise amid the public health crisis.

In a stock exchange filing, the listed fiber internet provider said its gross revenues for the third quarter of the year increased by 68% to P7.05 billion from P4.19 billion previously.

Broken down, the company’s third-quarter residential revenue climbed by 79% to P6.16 billion from P3.44 billion in the same period a year earlier, while revenue from its enterprise segment grew by 18% to P887 million from P752 million previously.

Cost of services for the quarter reached P2.64 billion, up by 37% from P1.93 billion in the same period last year, bringing the company’s gross profit to P4.41 billion, up by 95% from P2.26 billion previously.

Converge said it added almost 280,000 subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total residential subscriber count to nearly 1.6 million, by 75% higher compared to the same period last year.

“This was made possible as Converge reached peak levels in its port deployment at over 650,000 ports in the third quarter,” the company said.

Meanwhile, Converge’s attributable net income for the first nine months of the year went up by 137% to P5.20 billion from P2.19 billion in the same period in 2020.

January-to-September revenues increased by 76% to P18.83 billion from P10.68 billion last year. Cost of services reached P7.46 billion, up by 51% from P4.94 billion previously, bringing the company’s gross profit to P11.37 billion, up by 98% from P5.73 billion in the same period last year.

“As of end-September 2021, the nationwide network of Converge reached more than 9.6 million homes, allowing it to accelerate its target to cover approximately by 55% of Filipino households to 2023, two years ahead of the original 2025 schedule announced during the initial public offering last year,” the company said.

Converge also said it completed “in the past quarter” its P6-billion, 1,800-kilometer subsea cable project with its final landing in Coron, Palawan, connecting the country’s major islands to its domestic fiber backbone.

“As of September 2021, Converge’s domestic fiber backbone is at 90,000 kilometers, passing through some 440 cities and municipalities nationwide and introducing its broadband service to new markets including Iloilo, Cagayan, and Cagayan de Oro,” it noted.

At a virtual briefing, Converge Chief Executive Officer Dennis Anthony H. Uy said the company is “exploring potential new partnerships to serve [its] customers beyond broadband internet, such as fintech, e-games, con-tent, and others.”

Converge ICT shares closed by 3.24% higher at P35 apiece on Thursday.