AXIATA (6888) : HLIB Research maintains Hold on Axiata, raises target price to RM7.59
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Hong Leong IB Research (HLIB) has maintained its Hold rating on Axiata Group Bhd with a higher target price of RM7.59 (from RM6.92) and said Axiata recorded a disappointing core net profit of RM1.79bn in 9M14, only accounting for 67.7% and 68.5% of HLIB and consensus full year forecasts, respectively, mainly due to weaker-than-expected Celcom results caused by prolonged IT related issues.
In a note Tuesday, the research said for Celcom, sales contracted 4% year-on-year (y-o-y) as subscriber base churned by 195k qoq ended with 13.2m. Data revenue inched up 20% yoy while small screen data by 41%.
On XL, it said sales expanded 11% y-o-y as all product segment registered healthy growths led by data with 43% y-o-y and followed by VAS, voice and SMS with 42%, 4% and 4% y-o-y, respectively.
For Dialog, HLIB said year-to-date (YTD) sales grew 6% y-o-y with data and voice revenues expanded 55% and 4% y-o-y, respectively. Pay TV’s subscribers increased to 410,000, it said.
“Robi: YTD revenue and EBITDA grew 6%, 10%, respectively despite heightened competition. EBITDA margin improved by 1.7-ppt to 39.9%.
“Smart: YTD revenue, EBITDA and PAT grew 37%, 74% and 197%, respectively. YTD data revenue growth of 119% with data contributing 21% of total revenue.
“Maintain Hold although SOP-derived target price was raised by 9.7% from RM6.92 to RM7.59 as valuations were rolled forward to FY16 and imputing higher consensus TP for Axiata’s associates,” it said.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Hong Leong IB Research (HLIB) has maintained its Hold rating on Axiata Group Bhd with a higher target price of RM7.59 (from RM6.92) and said Axiata recorded a disappointing core net profit of RM1.79bn in 9M14, only accounting for 67.7% and 68.5% of HLIB and consensus full year forecasts, respectively, mainly due to weaker-than-expected Celcom results caused by prolonged IT related issues.
In a note Tuesday, the research said for Celcom, sales contracted 4% year-on-year (y-o-y) as subscriber base churned by 195k qoq ended with 13.2m. Data revenue inched up 20% yoy while small screen data by 41%.
On XL, it said sales expanded 11% y-o-y as all product segment registered healthy growths led by data with 43% y-o-y and followed by VAS, voice and SMS with 42%, 4% and 4% y-o-y, respectively.
For Dialog, HLIB said year-to-date (YTD) sales grew 6% y-o-y with data and voice revenues expanded 55% and 4% y-o-y, respectively. Pay TV’s subscribers increased to 410,000, it said.
“Robi: YTD revenue and EBITDA grew 6%, 10%, respectively despite heightened competition. EBITDA margin improved by 1.7-ppt to 39.9%.
“Smart: YTD revenue, EBITDA and PAT grew 37%, 74% and 197%, respectively. YTD data revenue growth of 119% with data contributing 21% of total revenue.
“Maintain Hold although SOP-derived target price was raised by 9.7% from RM6.92 to RM7.59 as valuations were rolled forward to FY16 and imputing higher consensus TP for Axiata’s associates,” it said.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com
