The price war at the low end of the French mobile market, which began at the beginning of summer 2024, and which we have written about extensively (HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE), appears to be coming to an end, thanks to some tariff changes that should lead to higher APRUs. We show some new work on tariffs in France in this short report, that should be good for all the MNOs.
New Altice France debt and equity is now trading. Given the material change in bond terms, and the creation of a new separately traded equity piece, we reassess our rating, and think that at these levels the bonds look pretty fairly valued, and so take the bond rating to Equal weight from Overweight (the old bonds ended up +20% from the lows), and initiate on the equity with a Neutral, as we think that the equity is already implying a high probability of a deal happening, and see minimal underli...
There have been a few recent reports that the sale process for XpFibre has heated up. It has been suggested that a sale might eventually be pulled and the stake used as a sweetener in any eventual deal; but actually, a sale could also be the first domino in the whole M&A process, as an XpFibre sale would help to ease leverage concerns that Bouygues might have from acquiring SFR. We still think a SFR-Bouygues deal is more likely than not by year end, and that Bouygues is the best way to play this...
We have been long-term Buyers of Orange, and are pleased about the YTD share price performance (+37% vs the sector +10%). Some of that outperformance is probably due to the prospect of French market repair (France is 56% of the value), but actually it is the Spanish and AME divisions that cause our target to rise to €15.8 from €14.9 post the Q2 results.
Orange has reported a solid set of results, with Telco EBITDA c+0.3% ahead of consensus, and has lifted Group EBITDAaL guidance thanks to AME. French KPIs are solid, but French retail SR growth has turned negative y/y. There are some encouraging signs on French front-book low-end mobile pricing in July (HERE), but clearly overall conditions remain difficult (albeit Orange is doing a good job of off-setting those difficulties at the EBITDAaL level in France).
Bezeq has confirmed that its subsidiary, Pelephone, has made an offer for Altice International’s Israeli business, Hot Mobile, HERE, for NIS2bn (c€500m). In addition, it seems that Cellcom and Hot have sold their stakes in IBC, HERE. Cellcom has sold its 23% stake for NIS520m (c€130m), and we would assume that Altice has sold its 23% stake for the same amount. In this report we look at the implications of the sales for ATCI lenders.
There have been several recent articles about French M&A. The latest article from TMT finance yesterday has some fairly specific details, and most importantly, seems to suggest that the price demanded for SFR is now approaching what we would see as fair value.
Feedback of the companies present at the ODDO BHF Nextcap Forum Company Country Market cap. (m) Company Country Market cap. (m) Accsys Technologies € 124 Hoffmann Green € 62 Afyren € 72 Hornbach € 1 451 Altri € 1 058 IDI € 537 AMG € 550 Implenia CHF 973 AmRest PLN 3 544 Jacquet Metals € 494 Arcure € 29 Kloeckner & Co € 653 Arverne 194 Knaustabbert € 144 Austriacard Holdings € 188 Lna Santé € 270 Bastide € 218 Medincell € 398 Befesa € 1 116 Nacon € 63 CAF € 1 649 N...
Our 14th edition of the ODDO BHF Nextcap Forum took place on 11 June in Paris, and on 12 June virtually. 96 companies and 170 investors were present for more than 700 meetings organized. Overall, we noted a still cautious tone from companies, with limited visibility on a solid rebound in a persistently uncertain market environment (geopolitical situation, US politics, etc.), even if there are some signs of recovery and certain sectors remain very well positioned (leisure, energy, defence). At th...
Unfortunately, this report is not available for the investor type or country you selected.
Report is subscription only.
Thank you, your report is ready.
Thank you, your report is ready.