MANILA - Converge ICT Solutions’ net income surged 158 percent in the first half to P3.25 billion from P1.26 billion in the same period last year, the company disclosed on Thursday.

The company said the results followed lower finance costs due to repayment of loans, a lower tax rate of 23 percent thanks to a new law lowering corporate taxes, and amid its expansion into Visayas and Mindanao.

“The completion of the initial phases of Converge’s domestic subsea cable network in the VisMin region in 2Q2020 resulted in the activation of an end-to-end nationwide backbone reaching from northern Luzon to Mindanao,” Converge said.

The company added that as of end-June, its nationwide network reached more than 8.3 million homes, putting it on track to cover 55 percent of Philippine households by 2025.

Converge said it had 173,356 more residential subscribers in the second quarter “representing the highest number of quarterly residential net adds ever recorded by the company.”

The broadband player led by Dennis Anthony Uy also said it welcomed the Philippine Stock Exchange’s announcement that Converge will be included PSE Index effective August 16 after qualifying for early inclusion.

“This was a pleasant surprise to us as we are really just focused on delivering our commitment to reach the underserved and unserved areas in the country with world-class pure fiber broadband connectivity,” Uy said.

Converge said it is preparing to upgrade its network, which will double the data transmission capacity of its metro backbone from the existing 400 Gigabit per second to 800 Gbps.

“This aims to reduce latency and to allow for high-speed data
transfers needed for next-generation technologies such as the Internet of Things and smart cities,” the company said.

• Converge income almost triples in Q1 as subscriber base almost doubles
• Converge ICT says may give free boost up to 100 Mbps this year

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