Rakuten Mobile continues to lack traction, driving an overall disappointing set of figures. The company continues to guide towards breakeven in Mobile by year end, but has introduced a new way of looking at Mobile profitability, by focusing on losses excluding acquisition costs and including the impact on EC which we think paves the way for dropping this guidance later in the year.
Topline trend was better as B2B division improved while KT Cloud and KT Estate sustained double-digits growth again. While the company had earlier announced plans to expand its AI/ICT staff pool by up to 1k this year, so far labour costs remained under control as it is being offset by natural attrition of retirees.
LG Uplus’ numbers improved from last quarter. Faster service revenue trend was led by improvements across the board, with continued strength in Enterprise. Bottom line was however weak off higher wage, D&A and interest costs. Our brief takeaway below.
Topline came in better than expected, supported by a better mobile performance from higher roaming users well as sustained performance from SK Broadband. EBITDA was relatively in line while net profit beat on expectations this quarter (12% ahead), helped by other income from its investment assets. Our thoughts below.
GREATER CHINA Strategy Alpha Picks: May Conviction Call: Adding CR Beer, Crystal, Geely, Haier, Kuaishou, Ningbo Tuopu, Pinduoduo, Shenzhou, and Tencent to our BUY list, closing out SELL calls. INDONESIA Strategy Alpha Picks: Slight Outperformance In A Bear Market: Our picks are BSDE, TLKM, ACES, BBTN, CMRY, SIDO, JSMR and AKRA. MALAYSIA Strategy Alpha Picks: Well-Positioned For 1Q Results Season: Our April picks again beat the KLCI. May 24 picks: GENM, Inari, Mah Sing, MrDIY, MYEG, Press Meta...
GREATER CHINA Strategy Alpha Picks: May Conviction Call Adding CR Beer, Crystal, Geely, Haier, Kuaishou, Ningbo Tuopu, Pinduoduo, Shenzhou, and Tencent to our BUY list, closing out SELL calls. Small-Mid Cap Monthly Reiterate BUY on Crystal International. Sector Automobile Weekly: EV sales pick up; take...
SK Telecom has issued its new shareholder return policy for the next three years (2024-2026), at least 50% of adjusted consolidated net profit in the form of dividends and share repurchases. The headline figure is somewhat underwhelming, but is now a minimum rather than a cap and could be the first of more initiatives to come as a result of the "Value-up" programme in Korea. Our thoughts below.
Rakuten has seen stronger customer growth recently. In this note, we analyse whether Rakuten is on track to hit its target 8-10m customers and ¥2,500-3,000 ARPU by year end, and what this means for Rakuten’s target EBITDA breakeven by Dec 2024.
Moody's Ratings (Moody's) has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Telekomunikasi Indonesia (P.T.) and other ratings that are associated with this issuer. The review was conducted through a rating committee held on 17 April 2024 in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the rating...
GREATER CHINA Strategy Alpha Picks: April Conviction Calls: Adding AIA, Midea, Hansoh Pharmaceutical, Shenzhen Inovance and Trip.com to our BUY list, with SELL calls on BYD, EVE Energy, and Li Auto. INDONESIA Strategy Alpha Picks: Outperformance In Mar 24 and 1Q24: Our picks are ACES, BBTN, CMRY, SIDO, EXCL, MAPI, JSMR, CTRA, and AKRA. MALAYSIA Strategy Alpha Picks: Expanding The Variety Of Events Bets: Our Alpha Picks trounced the KLCI in Mar 24. Apr 24 picks: GENM, Inari, Mah Sing, MrDIY, MY...
We ran our Asia Telco tour last week. This time we met 12 companies in 3 countries (Korea, Japan, Thailand). Telco share prices in all 3 of these countries have been pretty strong recently as telcos continue to benefit from generally positive themes: growth, return on capital and shareholder remuneration are all typically improving.
We met with all 3 of the Korean Telcos in Seoul over the last couple of days. All 3 are committed to engaging with and following the government “Value-up” programme, with the industry having started to become more shareholder friendly 2-3 years ago. We see the potential for higher industry returns (lower capex, opex) as well as better shareholder remuneration. Change will take time, but patient investors are set to do well from Korea as the market finally finds its place in the sun we think. Top...
We met with all 3 of the incumbent Japanese Telcos & Rakuten in Tokyo this week. Every time we visit we are reminded of how much better the telco industry is in Japan vs other DMs and we continue to be of the view that Japanese incumbents are in a “Golden Age”; ARPU inflection is being held back a little we think by voice weakness post-Covid but is likely to come through over time. The integration of financial services though is a game changer and means SB is the likely medium term “winner” in t...
Service revenue trend was softer on slower non-mobile this quarter. Collectively, mobile revenue trend (Consumer + Enterprise) maintained its second consecutive of growth and operators are implying a strong Q4. For instance, Softbank is expecting Consumer MSR to rebound this year (at flat YTD); NTT implying a strong Q4 EBIT on cost reductions and streamlining of non-core assets like Real Estate.
GREATER CHINA Strategy Alpha Picks: March Conviction Call: Adding CMB, COLI, CR Beer, Kuaishou and TUL to our BUY list, closing out SELL calls. INDONESIA Strategy Alpha Picks: Significant Outperformance In Feb 24: Our picks are BBTN, CMRY, SIDO, EXCL, MAPI, JSMR, CTRA, MYOR and AKRA. MALAYSIA Strategy Alpha Picks: Focusing On Earnings Momentum: Our Alpha Picks underperformed the KLCI in Feb 24 (-0.9% vs 2.5%). Mar 24 picks significantly feature companies with good earnings momentum. SINGAPORE...
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