Now Corp., a listed company controlled by the Velarde family, said it is expanding the fiber-in-the-air network this year in preparation for its bid as the country’s third major player.
“The priority this year is the expansion of our Fiber-in-the-Air network as well as complementing IT services such as cloud services, disaster recovery, artificial intelligence and collaboration tools. We already know which customer segment to capture and the goal is to achieve the financial metrics; thus, a flawless execution of our plans is crucial,” Now head of business development and strategy Kristian Pura said.
“To date, we have activated more than 150 locations and we continue to expand in the deeper parts of Metro Manila,” he added.
Now’s fiber air service covers internet-dependent industries, such as educational services, healthcare, hotels and restaurant industries and media with clients like The Manila Broadcasting Co., The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Marco Polo Ortigas, Manila Medical Center and Capitol Medical Center.
This is on top of serving key government agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Bureau of Investigation and the Presidential Management Staff. Its latest broadband clients are Providence Hospital, CCC Data Management Services and Xend Business Solution, while new building partners include Jollibee Plaza, Alpha Grandvie and Ela Swire Greenhills.
Now earlier reported a net profit of P3.53 million in the January-to-March period this year, up 248 percent from P1.01 million in the same period last year.
Revenues more than tripled to P24.51 million during the period from P5.98 million last year.
“The main reason behind Now’s increased profits is the expansion of its Fiber-in-the-Air network which provides guaranteed broadband connection for the enterprise segment,” Now said.
Now also plans to issue five million redeemable, convertible, cumulative, non-participating, non-voting, peso-denominated, preferred shares with an oversubscription option of five million preferred shares, and with up to 10 million detachable subscription warrants to be issued free of charge.
The preferred shares can be converted to common equity at a later time, with a ratio of 5 common shares to 1 preferred share.
“Use of proceeds shall be used for the continued expansion of its existing fiber in the air network, fiber optic cables, and additional manpower for its existing businesses,” Now said.
