April 18, 2011

AXIATA - Axiata slips on spectrum renewal fee concerns

Stock Name: AXIATA
Company Name: AXIATA GROUP BERHAD
Research House: RHB

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Axiata Group Bhd fell in active trade in late afternoon on Monday, April 18 on worries about the issue of spectrum renewal fee for Robi Axiata Ltd in Bangladesh.

At 3.27pm, it was down four sen to RM3.27 with 11 million shares done.

The FBM KLCI rose 6.84 points to 1,528. Turnover was 740.73 million shares valued at RM966.88 million. There were 450 gainers, 233 losers and 254 stocks unchanged.

RHB Research said the issue of spectrum renewal fee for Robi and the rest of the mobile operators continued to overhang. The exact amounts for the fees have not yet been determined, though at present it could be about US$400 million.

Hence, it said that Axiata did not rule out a cash call from Robi. 'Nonetheless, management hopes to see a resolution in June, given that the licences expire in November,' it said.

On Axiata's operations, RHB Research said it expected Celcom's revenue growth to moderate towards mid-single digit in FY11.

'So far, we gather from management that competition has been rational despite YTL Communications' aggressive marketing,' it said.

RHB Research said it still liked Axiata, which offers growth prospects albeit moderating this year.

'We see highest regulatory risks in Bangladesh, which could shave off 16 sen from our fair value. Maintain our SOP fair value of RM5.75, but upgrade to Outperform due to recent share price weakness,' it said.

No comments:

Post a Comment