PBA COMMISSIONER Willie Marcial is set to address the press today, March 23, on the possible sale of Alaska’s franchise.
Sources within the PBA and various media reports point to broadband internet provider Converge ICT Solutions as the likely buyer.
Bilyonaryo.com listed down the hard numbers allegedly on the negotiation table. P100 million membership bond. P7 million deposit as equity. P7 million transfer fee.
But if the Dennis Uy-led company (no, not Phoenix Petroleum’s Dennis Uy) is truly planning to pick up the reins from Fred Uytengsu, these eye-popping numbers will look like mere rounding errors in the Converge books.
Converge, which made its debut in the Philippine Stock Exchange last October 2020, reported a 111 percent year-on-year growth in income last 2021.
Its total profit for last year? P7.2 billion.
Converge doubled its income last 2021
This earnings bump was driven by an expanding residential subscriber base, growing port rollouts, and an uptick in its B2B arm as firms rebound from the pandemic.
“Our network has now passed 10.9 million homes and we’re covering around 42.5 percent of Philippine households. We’re confident of meeting our accelerated goal of reaching 55 percent of all households by 2023,” said Uy in a press briefing last week.
This year, the broadband firm is expecting to spend anywhere from P26 to P28 billion in capital expenditures to expand its network.
For context: “Last year we spent P25 billion,” Converge chief financial advisor Matthias Vukovich told reporters.
Vukovich added: “Our capital expenditure will be for our national fiber backbone extension."
This will be partially financed by an issuance of maiden bonds worth P10 billion, as well as a “strong credit profile,” as attested to by Converge president Maria Grace Uy.
Against such numbers, the P114 million reportedly being asked by the PBA seems like a drop in the bucket, indeed.
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