Axiata Group will use proceeds from the Sukuk issuance for general corporate purposes
KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata’s recent transactions are expected to be earnings accretive by 2018, said Maybank IB Research on Wednesday.
Apart from offering 2G/3G services to TM, Celcom is also gaining wholesale access to TM’s backhaul services and HSBB network. This will allow Celcom to target the growing “fixed mobile convergence” (FMC) segment.
In Bangladesh, the merged Robi-Airtel entity becomes a strong second player, with a firmer foothold in the key Chittagong-Comilla-Dhaka area.
Meanwhile, the regulator’s statement alluded to a mere reallocation of 900/1800MHz spectrum and Axiata confirmed there has been no discussion on auctions. Its risk-reward profile has improved with the increased clarity on the spectrum situation.
Some clarity on how the bands would be reallocated could surface in the coming days.
Management believes pricing is unlikely to be exorbitant, and is also lobbying for USP payments to be reduced. The need for fees would imply spectrum being technology neutral sooner rather than later.
Maybank’s forecasts and TP for Axiata are unchanged pending Axiata’s results release.
“We value Axiata on a sum-of-parts, with each operating entity valued using DCF. Celcom and XL account for RM3.90 and 84 sen per Axiata share respectively. Our TP has yet to account for Celcom’s added spectrum fees, and the contributions of Smart and Ncell,” it said.
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