Telecommunications Service Providers (Telecommunications & Media)
Telecommunication Sector - Gearing up for 5G
Fri, 05-Jan-2024 10:23 am
by Lee Cherng Wee • Apex Research

Review

Bursa Malaysia Telecommunication Index has been on a downtrend since coming off its peak of near-640 pts in April 2023. However, the index saw some bargain hunting and rebounded off its bottom of 545 pts in December 2023 to 570 pts. Operation-wise, the industry remains steady with healthy subscriber and ARPU levels. Prepaid subscribers were supported by the return of foreign workers while Postpaid subscribers continue to see growth due to migration from Prepaid. Meanwhile, ARPU continue to inch lower gradually due to competitive pricing but remains steady. 

Outlook 

In early December, all five major telcos (Maxis, CDB, YTL, U-Mobile and TM) have signed share subscription agreements to take up 14.0% equity stakes each in Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) for RM233.0m. This will pave way for DNB to achieve its target of 80% coverage next year. However, we are concerned whether capex allocation for 5G rollout could affect dividend payouts as Maxis has reduced its dividend payments to conserve cash for 5G investment.


Valuation & Recommendation 

Previous national budgets have seen the government allocating huge amounts to construct telecommunication infrastructure. As such, we expect Budget 2024 to benefit players such as Opcom Holdings Bhd (NR), OCK Group Bhd (NR), Telekom Malaysia Bhd (BUY, FV: RM6.31), ITMAX System Bhd (NR), and Mestron Holdings Bhd (NR).

Recommendation: Neutral
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