Ayala-backed Globe Telecom Inc. expects to complete a P96-billion tower sale next year after completing the sale of 60 percent of its transmission facilities.

In a report to the Philippine Stock Exchange or PSE on Monday, Globe disclosed that it had raised P57.4 billion to date from its monetization of P2,057 tower assets, a much-needed financial boost that would bankroll the company's network and services expansion.

Globe's last transaction for the year was the third, closing the sale of 79 towers to Unity Digital Infrastructure for P948 million.

It had previously transferred 115 towers to Unity Digital Infrastructure in July.

Depreciation costs rising

Globe has officially transferred the ownership of 4,467 towers out of 7,506 towers sold.

In addition to its deal with Unity, Globe has sold tower portfolios to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc., Phil-Tower Consortium Inc. and MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corp.

Globe's net income for the first nine months fell 27 percent to P19.4 billion from P26.5 billion in the same period in 2022 due to "increased depreciation expense."

Globe also said non-operating charges compared to last year's non-operating income and the partial sale of its data center business increased during the period.

Notably, Mynt, the financial technology arm of Globe Group which operates online payment platform GCash, contributed six percent of Globe Group's net income before tax.