reports
- Chris Hoare
- Chris Hoare
- Chris Hoare
- Chris Hoare
Indonesian Telcos Q4 23 review: Strong execution from XL and Indosat;...
Despite Telkom being hit by a series of one-offs in Q4, industry mobile revenue and ARPU trends are still reflective of the benign competitive landscape. EBITDA also improved for both XL and Indosat, with capex intensity improved across the board. Moreover, recent news flow suggests that the XL and Smartfren merger is closer than before. Finally, we also raised our price target for Indosat to IDR12.5k from IDR11k as we layer on higher broadband revenue as it vies for share in the fixed industry.
- Chris Hoare
Chinese Telcos Q4 23 review: Outperformance by China Telecom; bullish...
China Telecom was the clear outperformer for service revenue growth this quarter and for the full year too, driven by an acceleration in Enterprise. Industry EBITDA trend was less upbeat in Q4 as China Mobile and Unicom declined. Both capex and dividend guidance were bullish; industry capex expected to lower by 5% while payout is expected to trend above 75% over the next three years (by 2026) for China Mobile and China Telecom.
- Chris Hoare
Thai Telcos Q4 23 review: Turning the corner as ARPU grew after more ...
Thai operators witnessed a notable uptick in growth as industry mobile ARPU reverted to growth after more than three years. EBITDA also bounced higher led by TRUE, setting the stage for 9-11% growth in FY24. Guided capex also suggests moderating capex intensity which is key driver of ROIC upside. The outlook is turning more optimistic than before, validated by our recent visit of the two telcos.
- Chris Hoare
- Chris Hoare
Thai Telcos Takeaways from Meetings with the Thai Telcos in Bangkok
Our meetings with the two Thai operators (& NBTC) validate our view of a benign mobile dynamic, supported by improving tourism, and sharp capex reductions. Both operators remain focused on profitable growth. TRUE seems very confident on synergy delivery.
- Chris Hoare
- David Lopes
Indian Mobile Q3 FY24 review: Still tracking well even without tariff...
India’s telecom industry continue to grow in the HSD, with Bharti and Jio improving at the expense of VIL. Industry ARPU tracked MSD again even without any meaningful tariff hikes; we expect increases to be put through in 2H CY24 though that has largely been priced in. EBITDA continue to trend ahead of topline, with YoY margins improvement across the board. Earlier last month, the government also approved the auction for 10,523 MHz of spectrum which starts from INR 963bn (USD 11.6bn). However, w...
- Chris Hoare
Bharti Airtel (Buy, TP: INR 1,500, +34%) Marginal margin continuing t...
Following a very strong H2 2023, Bharti has retraced nearly INR 100/share. We remain bullish and would see the sell-down as a buying opportunity. Consensus forecasts continue to look too low to us; in this note we focus on the consumer margin, which we think is likely to surprise to the upside.
- Chris Hoare
Bharti Airtel (Buy, TP: INR 1,400, +26%) Q3 FY24 Quick Take: In-line,...
Excluding the Naira devaluation impact, Bharti Airtel reported in-line results for its Indian businesses, with sustained margin expansion again. Indian mobile performance remained strong, with ARPU and revenue growth ahead of peers ahead. Trends also remained strong for Home Services, with Digital TV seeing a nice acceleration post the inflection last quarter.
- Chris Hoare
ASEAN Telcos Outlook 2024; Continued market repair in Indonesia, Thai...
After a decent 2023, in 2024 we are likely to see further evidence of market repair in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia driven by consolidation in both Mobile and Broadband. The economic outlook in the region is generally positive too, helped by post-Covid tailwinds, and China decoupling.
- Chris Hoare
Chinese Telcos & Towers Outlook 2024 – Expect another good year for t...
2023 was another decent year for the telcos largely driven by Enterprise. Stocks (especially China Mobile and Telecom) outperformed the weak local index. We expect trends to last through 2024 with good revenue growth and reducing margin pressure and the potential for shareholder remuneration to surprise
- Chris Hoare
- Chris Hoare
Thai Telcos Q3 23 review: Market continues to repair
Market repair drove faster revenue growth and rising margins for both AIS and TRUE. For mobile, AIS is finally back to positive ARPU YoY growth after fourteen quarters of YoY declines. This suggests to us that the outlook turning more optimistic than before.
- Chris Hoare
- Chris Hoare
Indonesian Telcos Q3 23 review: IndiHome/Telkomsel merger sparking in...
Following several weaker quarters, Q3 marked something of a turnaround for Telekom Indonesia with stronger net adds on both mobile and broadband side. It would appear that the closing of the IndiHome/Telkomsel merger in July has catalysed better performance. With market repair continuing and Enterprise also better, we think the stock should start to perform better and remain Buyers.
- Chris Hoare
5G FWA in EM Poor man’s paradise; income and propensity to spend sugg...
This is the 3rd in a series of notes looking at FWA (see HERE and HERE). Like us, the market appears to be getting more bullish on FWA in EM, and a series of events such as Jio’s launch suggest FWA could be a significant use case for 5G in Emerging Markets.
- Chris Hoare
AIS (Buy, TP: THB285, +28%) AIS (Buy) – Thai regulator greenlights th...
Last Friday, the NBTC has approved the acquisition of Triple T Broadband (3BB) by AIS. This moves the Thai operator up to the top spot in the fixed broadband market with c.36% on our estimates. The remedies were fairly reasonable in our view.
- Chris Hoare
Indian Mobile Q2 FY24 review: Core mobile still decent, with margin i...
India’s telecom industry continue to grow in the HSD, with Bharti outperforming on mobile service revenue growth on a YoY basis again. Whilst Jio posted better net additions, its ARPU trend was softer. Bharti’s Enterprise business did slow down however, largely a function of the deferred spending by global OTT players driven by current global macro.
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