Service revenue growth slowed from a strong Q4 but profit trends improved, and EPS growth was better. Not disclosed but cash flow should be strongly higher on these figures given declining capex. Given EPS drives the dividend this seems positive to us, and we remain Buyers.
Chinese Telcos saw service revenue return to mid-single digits growth in 4Q24. Despite a blip in EBITDA trend, the industry ended 2024 with 6% earnings growth which translated to higher dividend payouts (CM: 73%, CT: 72%, CU: 60%).
GREATER CHINA Strategy China And Hong Kong Property & Hong Kong Landlord Tariffs curtail US rate cuts, thereby hindering the recovery of Hong Kong property and tourism; Maintain OVERWEIGHT on China property. INDONESIA Strategy Alpha Picks: Outperform In Mar 25 Remove BBNI, BBRI, ASII, JSMR and KLBF; add BBCA, ICBP, ERAA and BUKA. MALAYSIA Update Pekat Group (PEKAT MK/BUY/RM1.08/Target: RM1.45) Good earnings visibility over 2025...
The selloff driven by the US’ unprecedented and perplexing tariff plans has liberated many investors of profits this year. Given the fluidity of market conditions, we highlight a number of domestic-focused stocks such as CENT, CD, DFI, HLA, PANU, PROP, RFMD, SSG and SIE as well as Singapore-focused REITS such as CDLHT, FEHT, FCT, KREIT, LREIT and PREIT. In addition, the MAS’ equity market review should inject much needed liquidity in 2H25. We lower our STI target to 3,720 (previously 4,115).
No doubt investors are busy fighting fires. But additional to our thoughts from last week we thought it might be helpful to offer 3 further action points for investors in EM & Japanese Telcos that we would be taking in response to market turmoil. Very brief thoughts below.
GREATER CHINA Results China Mengniu Dairy (2319 HK/BUY/HK$19.50/Target: HK$23.60) 2024: Results in line with profit warning; operating margin beat; targeting low single digit revenue growth for 2025. China Merchants Bank (3968 HK/HOLD/HK$45.90/Target: HK$49.00) 2024: Improving fundamentals but valuation is no longer attractive; downgrade to HOLD. China Overseas Property Holdings (2669 HK/BUY/HK$5.47/Target: HK$6.80) ...
For 4Q24, the sector’s 18% yoy earnings growth was within expectations, driven by Singtel’s regional associates, strong performance from the enterprise businesses and better overall cost discipline. We expect decent earnings growth for 1Q25, backed by strong earnings visibility, cost-saving initiatives and robust Enterprise business outlook. We like Singtel for its regional exposure and value-unlocking initiatives, Starhub’s attractive yield and NetLink’s defensive earnings. Maintain OVERWEIGHT.
China Tower saw Q4 revenue and EBITDA ahead of consensus by 0.9% and 4.8% respectively, led by strong momentum in Two Wings and good cost control. As margins have started to stabilise and earnings up 10% in 2024, the company announced an 11% increase in dividends which implies a 76% payout, in-line with its guidance. As depreciation is set to fall this year, we expect earnings to grow rapidly which should be supportive of the ongoing shareholder remuneration policy. At 3.5x FY25 EV/EBITDA, China...
February was another good month for our top EM Telcos, now up 15% YTD on average. This note also includes key news & other thoughts in order to help investors generate alpha within the EM Telco space. With performance strong so far, we make no changes to our picks.
We give our thoughts on pricing and total spend ahead of the upcoming THB 121bn (USD 3.6bn) spectrum auction in Thailand (likely in May 2025). Reserve prices seem reasonable, but the early auction of expiring 2027 spectrum means total spend this year is likely to be above our original forecasts.
A director at Singapore Telecommunications Ltd bought 30,000 shares at 3.280SGD and the significance rating of the trade was 71/100. Is that information sufficient for you to make an investment decision? This report gives details of those trades and adds context and analysis to them such that you can judge whether these trading decisions are ones worth following. Included in the report is a detailed share price chart which plots discretionary trades by all the company's directors over the last...
GREATER CHINA Sector Dairy: Retail demand remains weak; price recovery and healthier inventories to drive shipment normalisation. Healthcare: Outperformers empowered by AI revolution. INDONESIA Update Champ Resto Indonesia (ENAK IJ/BUY/Rp585/Target: Rp740): 2025 revenue to grow 16% yoy; more conservative on 4Q24 performance. Maintain BUY. MALAYSIA Results Duopharma Biotech (DBB MK/BUY/RM1.28/Target: RM1.39): 4Q24: Largely delivers on earnings. Public sector sales anchor growth while margins im...
KEY HIGHLIGHTS Results Marco Polo Marine (MPM SP/BUY/S$0.052/Target:S$0.072) 1QFY25: Ready to ride the green energy wave in 2HFY25. Singapore Telecommunications (ST SP/BUY/S$3.37/Target: S$3.58) 9MFY25: Results in line as business outlook improves. United Overseas Bank (UOB SP/NOT RATED/S$38.58) 4Q24: Sets out action plan for capital management. TRADERS' CORNER Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (YZJSGD SP): Trading BUY Hong Fok Co...
For 9MFY25, Singtel reported a higher underlying net profit of S$1,870m (+11% yoy), driven by higher contributions from Optus and NCS, good cost discipline from the group’s cost-out programme and higher associate earnings (mainly from Airtel and AIS). The results are in line with expectations at 73% of our full-year forecasts. Singtel expects to pay 16.5 cents DPS for FY25 as the group has identified S$6b of capital recycling for sustainable shareholder returns. In view of a decent dividend yiel...
Singtel delivered a good set of numbers with underlying revenue growing and EBIT expanding on continued cost optimisation despite ongoing growth investments at Digital Infraco which led to steady growth in underlying net profits.
While sounding a word of caution for medium-term government revenues, Prime Minister Wong delivered a budget that continued to defray the pain of inflation with an eye toward clean energy, climate change and helping lower-income households. No new equities market proposals were announced, which may disappoint investors in the short term. Our top picks are BAL, CD, KEP, OCBC, STE, STM, SCI, ST, VMS and YZJSGD.
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