reports
- James Ratzer
BT (Neutral, 220p, +19%) H1 26: Let’s focus on Starlink & Openreach
Financial and KPI results were broadly in line with expectations and all financial guidance has been reiterated. Therefore, in this note we focus more on two specific angles – 1) How to digest the Openreach line losses and why FY26 might not be “peak line losses” and 2) What to make of the new Starlink deal announced, which we think could have interesting longer-term implications.
- James Ratzer
TalkTalk (Neutral) H1 review – New outlook, new model
TalkTalk’s H1 results show that customer momentum remains a challenge for them given the price competitive nature of the UK market which allow customers to switch with more ease than in the past. Working capital outflow has also been higher than expected.
- James Ratzer
Cityfibre up, Openreach down Better visibility on Sky deal drives CF...
XLast month, Cityfibre reported a sharp acceleration in its net add run rate due to its new deal with Sky – and a clear indication that Sky now intends to put all of its new FTTP customers in Cityfibre’s footprint on the Cityfibre network.
- James Ratzer
VMO2 (Underweight) Q3 25 – Core pressures still present on fixed broa...
A big day for VMO2 – not only do we have the Q3 results which we analyse in detail here – and which show further pressures in the core fixed business….but we also have an FT article suggesting VMO2/ nexfibre is interested in buying netomnia, and which we assessed in our earlier note….
- James Ratzer
VMO2 to buy Netomnia? Our Quick Take
As we were waiting for the VMO2 results to arrive and making our final preparations, the FT has published an article suggesting that VMO2 is in advanced stages to buy Netomnia for c.£2bn. However, the VMO2 Q3 results which have just been published make no mention of this. Earlier this month, we recently published a deep-dive note looking at Netomnia.
- James Ratzer
Nexfibre/ VMO2 What can we learn from the newly published accounts
nexfibre (the Liberty Global/ Telefonica/ InfraVia UK fibre venture) has just published their 2024 accounts, which helps to give more insight on their network build, their customer trends and financials. We believe customer numbers on nexfibre were higher than previously expected, implying lower customer volumes on the legacy VMO2 footprint. In this quick note we analyse the key takeaways from this and the impact on VMO2.
- James Ratzer
UK consolidation Should VMO2 consider shutting down its HFC network?
Two of the most common questions we get asked at the moment are: 1) How will the UK broadband market consolidate?, and 2) What can VMO2 do to turn around their performance? We believe an interesting answer to both of these questions could be for VMO2 to consider shutting down their HFC network and moving to wholebuy Openreach’s FTTH network. This could be both value accretive for VMO2 and BT – and allow for a more rational UK market structure. In this thought-piece, we explore further how this...
- James Ratzer
CityFibre Q3: Significant customer acceleration with Sky launch & BT ...
CityFibre has just released a Q3 trading update which highlights the acceleration in customer volumes that they are seeing with Sky – and this is likely to put incremental pressure on BT, especially if momentum accelerates further in Q4 which we think could be likely.
- Ben Rickett
- James Ratzer
UK Fixed Market Review: Fewer lines to go round BT back to Neutral. D...
We now think the UK physical broadband line market is shrinking for the first time due to the impact of high penetration, FWA, satellite, mobile tethering and low economic growth. It is difficult to see this structural trend changing in the foreseeable future and we therefore adjust our view of UK fixed market growth – cutting our 2030 forecast for UK wireline broadband lines by 10%.
- James Ratzer
TalkTalk (1st lien: From Overweight to Neutral) Update on new initiat...
In early June, we upgraded the TalkTalk 1st lien debt to Buy – and it has since rallied from 45 to 75. We have also now seen a good degree of the Consumer changes that TalkTalk highlighted were coming earlier this year and based on what we have seen, we see no reason to change our existing forecasts. In this note, we therefore run through the new initiatives, the valuation and hence, the driver of our decision to move the 1st lien bonds back to Neutral.
- James Ratzer
- James Ratzer
- James Ratzer
VirginMedia-O2 (Underweight) Q2 25 – Customer losses and ARPU growth ...
VMO2’s Q2 results show that customer losses and ARPU trends have slipped further in Q2. Although all guidance has been reiterated supported by hopes of a B2B turnaround and near-term cost measures, we think these KPI trends will make it more difficult to sustain organic EBITDA growth into FY26.
- James Ratzer
TalkTalk (1st Lien - Overweight) New capital injection a mixed blessi...
TalkTalk has announced a new funding arrangement of up to £100m of extra liquidity. They have also provided new guidance and we run though our take on the new funding and the new guidance. We then provide an update to our forecasts and what this might mean for M&A possibilities
- James Ratzer
- Ben Rickett
- James Ratzer
- Russell Waller
EU Telecoms: Half-time 2025 Review Sector has outperformed: More sele...
The European Telecoms continues to outperform: up 17% YTD vs. the market up 10%. While this is great to see, adding to the 12pp outperformance in 2024 and supporting our investment thesis of improving regulation, it does mean the equity upside story from here is becoming more selective.
- James Ratzer
TalkTalk (Overweight 1st lien) Deeper dive on customer trends and est...
There is a lot of focus (quite rightly) on TalkTalk’s customer trends as a longer-term indicator of their growth trajectory but the initial Q1 results suggested a wide range of outcomes.However, we now have more detail on this from the company and in this note, we take a deeper dive into the precise customer trends and provide an updated set of forecasts. For BT, we then also assess the potential impact that this might be having on Openreach.
- James Ratzer
BT (Buy, 265p, +47%) Was 240p Upside beyond the mythical £3bn FCF t...
BT’s target to reach £3bn FCF by the end of the decade has almost become mythical in status. Initially set back in 2021, is it the longest-standing piece of guidance (ever) in the telecoms sector? Quite possibly – and yet we are only half-way there.
- James Ratzer
BT (Buy, £2.40, +46%) Dig a bit deeper and it is better than the headl...
Going into these results, we believe that two numbers were in focus – the Openreach line losses and the new FY26 guidance. In this note we dig into both of these in more detail and highlight why having TalkTalk as a major ISP on the Openreach network is causing them specific issues driving some of the higher line losses.
- James Ratzer
BT (Buy, £2.40, +45%) TNT Sports exit - what are the financial implica...
The FT has reported that BT could sell its 50% stake in TNT Sports to WBD – maybe this week alongside FY results on Thursday. We assess the potential financial implications of this as it might be positive vs. market perception but could be negative vs. our valuation.
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