Singapore Telecom 02 (Feb 12 - Dec 24)

[winston]

not vested

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) may be in focus after it posted a fourth consecutive fall in quarterly profit on Monday, hurt by weakness in Singapore and India.

Source: Reuters

[iam802]

2012Feb-SingTel-800x600.png

1. Kumo twist. Going bearish

2. Singtel's price is lagging behind the index

3. A key sign that it is not going up due to

4. Ask yourself, where will SingTel's growth going to come from?
- more IDD (how about threat from Skype and other VoIP products/services); falling IDD revenues /rates
- drop in SMS revenue; iMessage from AAPL, FB, Twitter, Google. I am sure there are more of such alternatives.
- video consumption; remember how IDA build the fibre optics infrastructure and a huge number of buildings do not want to wire up? This is a good reflection that there is not much revenue to be made from video consumption. In fact it adds cost.

[iam802]

SingTel Agrees to Buy Amobee for $321 Million to Expand Mobile Advertising

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-0 ... ising.html

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (ST), Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, agreed to buy Amobee Inc. for $321 million to expand in mobile advertising as it restructures its businesses by product type.

The acquisition of U.S.-based Amobee is expected to be completed before June, SingTel, as the Singapore-based company is known, said in a filing today.

SingTel expects to generate growth by expanding mobile advertising business to offer deals targeted at consumers such as through coupons and loyalty programs as it reduces the reliance on traditional phone services. The company has about 434 million customers in 25 countries, across Asia and Africa though its own units and associates such as Bharti Airtel Ltd. (BHARTI)

“The mobile advertising market is nascent and has significant potential,” SingTel said in the statement. “We want to capture that growth in developed and emerging markets with this acquisition.”

The company will also reorganize itself into three businesses of consumer, digital services and information technology for large business and government customers.

Paul O’Sullivan, who currently heads SingTel’s Optus unit in Australia, will run the consumer division while Singapore chief executive officer Allen Lew will be in charge of the digital unit.

The new business structure will take effect on April 1.

SingTel shares closed March 2 at S$3.15 and have gained 1.9 percent this year, compared with a 13 percent jump in the Straits Times Index. (FSSTI)

SingTel owns all of its Singapore and Australian phone businesses in addition to minority stakes in six other mobile operators including Bharti, India’s largest wireless operator, PT Telekomunikasi Selular in Indonesia and Advanced Info Service Pcl (ADVANC) in Thailand.

[iam802]

Notes on Amobee:

1. Background information
- SingTel is buying this to hedge against the decline in revenue from SMS, traditional phone lines etc
- Founder CEO serves until July 2011; why?
- Revenue is probably maxed out, need new CEO to run a new game plan (sell the company)

2. Amoebee. Total funding raised = US$54M (since 2005)
- about time that most of the funds raised will be used up soon
- why didn't they go IPO instead?
- if year-on-year growth is in the double digits percentile, they can easily go for an IPO
- market is saturating in terms of clients coming on-board, though advertising spend may increase
- I guess revenue is around $25M at most?

3. Competitors:
- Google (through its acquisition of AdMob)
- Apple
- Others?

4. Questions
- Is SingTel paying too much for it?
- What kind of ROI?

[iam802]

SingTel to transfer 500 workers to Huawei unit

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/ ... NI20120321

(Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest telecom firm, will lay off around 500 staff in Singapore who will be offered jobs at a unit of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd as part of a restructuring.

Sino Huawei Technologies Pte Ltd will then operate and maintain SingTel's copper-based voice and data network infrastructure in Singapore for an initial period of five years starting June, SingTel said in a statement.

"The initiative will allow SingTel to focus on core competencies such as product development, marketing and customer engagement," said Executive Vice President of Networks Tay Soo Meng.

Affected SingTel employees will be offered employment at Huawei with no change to existing roles, responsibilities, remuneration and benefits, the Singapore firm added.

SingTel, which employs around 13,400 people in Singapore, is trying to turn itself into a multimedia content provider to differentiate itself from other telecom firms that provide utility-like services

[iam802]

So...now SingTel's share price is about the same as Starhub, right?

Any growth for SingTel?

[winston]

not vested

SingTel reported a lower-than-expected 2.5 percent rise in fiscal fourth quarter net profit on Thursday, as stronger contributions from its units in Indonesia and Thailand were offset by weakness in India.

Source: Reuters

[iam802]

Lots of angry MioTV fans complaining about SingTel's service for BPL.

[iam802]

SingTel buys Hungrygowhere.com for US$9.4M

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2012/05/22/s ... 2-million/

[winston]

not vested

DBS cuts SingTel to hold from buy DBS Vickers has downgraded Singapore Telecommunications Ltd to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut its target price to S$3.29 from S$3.32, on concerns of intensifying competition in India, a weak rupee and its growth in Singapore.

By 0251 GMT, SingTel shares were 1.2 percent lower at S$3.26, and have gained about 5.5 percent so far this year, underperforming the benchmark Straits Times Index's <.FTSTI> 9 percent rise.

DBS said its checks suggest that tariffs in India have been falling rapidly since May, indicating greater competition in the country, while SingTel's affiliate Bharti Airtel has been losing revenue share to competitors such as Vodafone.

The Indian rupee has declined 20 percent against the Singapore dollar over the last three months, which could result in significant foreign exchange losses at Bharti as it has large US dollar-denominated foreign debt, DBS said.

Singapore regulator Infocomm Development Authority's upcoming initiative to spur adoption of fibre network, Inter Connect Offer, could dampen SingTel's earnings in Singapore, DBS said.


Source: Reuters