2012 Top 20 Companies (by Market Capital) in Bursa Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: Eight companies have been allowed access to the much-anticipated 2,600 MHz spectrum band which allows mobile phone users to enjoy long-term evolution (LTE) or 4G services with broadband speeds in excess of 100Mbps.

The eight are Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd, Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd, Puncak Semangat Sdn Bhd, REDtone Marketing Sdn Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd and YTL Communications Sdn Bhd.


Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which announced the allocation to the eight companies yesterday, said in a statement that existing service providers might use the 2,600 MHz spectrum band to further expand and enhance the capacity of their mobile broadband networks to meet increasing consumer demands.

The technology promises many new services to consumers such as high definition video streaming, enhanced user experience on real-time applications and better connectivity for mobile and consumer electronic devices.
The spectrum allocation will allow users of LTE, which is the next leap in mobile broadband technology after 3G, to boost Internet surfing speeds on the next generation smartphones such as the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE.

Telcos namely Celcom, DiGi and Maxis are also touting LTE to be the next driver of data demand as users upgrade their mobile phones and sign fresh contracts with them when they purchase new smartphones for faster internet speeds.

MCMC said since the introduction of 3G and WiMAX technology in Malaysia, the demand for better quality mobile broadband service had intensified. “This allocation is in line with similar initiatives in developed countries like the United States and some European states. “Market readiness for 4G technology is also reaching its maturity as increasingly, many of the latest devices in the global market support the use of this technology, hence the economies of scale will bring much benefit to the country,” it said.

MCMC said service providers were expected to enter into smart partnerships and sharing agreements between them which included spectrum and radio access network sharing in order to utilise larger bandwidths, lower the cost of rollout and offer better LTE-experience and affordability to consumers.
“Smart partnerships mean shared infrastructure, thus reducing the duplication of physical transmission towers,” MCMC said.

LTE wholesale Mobile Virtual Network Service would also be offered to other service providers that did not get access to the allocation, MCMC added. MCMC chairman Datuk Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi said the introduction of a new player was expected to bring fresh ideas and innovation to the market.
“MCMC is always committed to finding the right balance between the needs of consumers, investors and other stakeholders of the industry. “We believe that the balance struck between ensuring healthy competition in the market and promoting industry development will help spur continued growth for existing service providers and provide opportunity for new market entrants,” he said.

2012年04月05日 - 虽上演削价战 电讯业不会大洗牌 - 财经新闻 - 财经 - 南洋网

2012年03月26日 封面故事 - 财经周刊 - 南洋网

大马的通讯领域早已形成三强鼎立的格局，而各强之间又有本身的优势，因此，估计不会出现合并的风潮。 然而，我国通讯领域的确出现了合并的迹象与契机，而这个契机又完全是由9张4G执照而引发……
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（吉隆坡5日訊）儘管大馬通訊領域已發展至相對成熟的市場，但市場分析員相信，國內的電訊業者仍有增長潛力，並持續看好該領域的投資前景。

MIDF研究分析員表示，國內絕大部分的通訊業者都在2011財政年交出超越市場預測的業績表現。
其中，儘管馬電訊（TM，4863，主板貿服股）2011財政年的淨利稍微下滑0.6%，但其高達12億令吉的淨利，仍超出市場預期。同時，若扣除一次性的收入，其核心淨利更增長13.1%，至6.8億令吉。
至於流動通訊業者方面，國內三大通訊業者--明訊（MAXIS，6012，主板貿服股）、數碼網絡（DIGI，6947，主板基建股）與亞通 （AXIATA，6888，主板貿服股）旗下的天地通（Celcom），依然維持穩健的增長，並主要由非語音業務所帶動，取得19.4%的增長。

（雪蘭莪‧八打靈再也23日訊）綠馳通訊科技（GPACKET，0082，主板科技組）今日證實正與多方洽商頻譜分享與整合問題，時機成熟時才會公佈洽商進展。

KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Bhd’s fourth quarter net profit jumped 47.5 per cent to RM900 million from RM610 million in the corresponding period in 2010, largely due to a last mile broadband tax incentive for the previous years and current year.
Profit for the final quarter ended December 31 2011 was also helped by lower net finance costs arising from reversal of provision for site rectification and decommissioning works.

Revenue fell marginally to RM2.26 billion from RM2.31 billion in the previous corresponding period.

Maxis expects the operating environment for 2012 to remain competitive and challenging. The fourth quarter results pushed Maxis’ full-year net profit to over RM2.52 billion or 10.10 per cent more than the year before.

“A continuing focus on operational efficiency saw Maxis delivering its customary industry-leading earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margin at 50.3 per cent, putting it among the best performing telcos globally,” the company said in a press release.

Ebitda grew by 0.2 per cent to RM4.42 billion from RM4.41 billion in 2010. Revenu e for the full year was RM8.80 billion versus RM8.86 billion previously despite having scaled down the low margin hubbing business which is a part of its International Gateway (IGW) services.

Overall, Maxis results were within analysts’ estimates, according to Bloomberg data. Maxis also declared a fourth interim singletier tax exempt dividend of 8 sen per share and is proposing a final single-tier tax exempt dividend of 8 sen per for 2011.

This brings the total dividend to RM3 billion or 40 sen per ordinary share for last year. As at end-2011, Maxis has the industry’s largest subscription base at 14 million.

Revenue was mainly driven by mobile Internet usage, content subscription and stronger wireless broadband revenue from a higher subscription base.

For its outlook for 2012, chief executive officer Sandip Das said Maxis will focus quite substantially on growing its revenue that it hopes would result in a stronger Ebitda.

"More importantly, we want to see new revenue streams coming in this year. We are very excited about turning in a stronger financial performance this year," he said at a media briefing on the company's results.

Revenue growth, he said, is expected to come from the rising demand for data from wireless broadband, Internet access and other non-voice services on the back of lower voice segment growth.

Last year, the non-voice segment grew an impressive 17 per cent and made up 43.5 per cent of Maxis' total mobile services revenue.

Sandip said the company is strengthening grip on future revenues, justifying its continued investment in the past two to three years in data infrastructure and partnerships.

He said Maxis is expecting the government to grant the 4G LTE (fourth generation long-term evolution) technology very soon, adding that the company could spend close to RM1 billion over the next two to three years on the 4G LTE alone if it takes off.  

Wednesday February 22, 2012 By YVONNE TAN

Saturday February 18, 2012 By TEE LIN SAY 

With the data boom, cellular firms have to transform to stay relevant

THERE is already a washing machine that can be programmed by its user using the Internet. And maybe, one day your favourite potted plant may tweet you that it needs to be watered. A report says that beverage companies are already tracking the weather to know the change so that they can serve their customers better and retailers are finding new ways to reach out to new markets. The extent of which the Internet has infiltrated our daily lives might seem a bit of a joke for some, but the cellular companies are not seeing the funny side of that.

In fact, the data boom is already threatening their once bread-and-butter voice revenues which have stagnated as people use the Internet for much of their communication, bypassing the use of traditional avenues the cellular companies were built on. Companies are the first to jump on the bandwagon in terms of data, using software and technologies that drive efficiency and profits. Now, the man-in-the-street is doing the same to make their lives a lot easier in an ever-increasing demanding world.

“Emerging academic research suggests that companies that use data and business analysis to guide decision making are more productive and experience higher returns on equity than competitors that don’t,” says McKinsey in a report.

Thanks to the booming use of smartphones, tablets and other portable devices, the amount of data flowing over cellular and wireless phone networks is growing faster than the providers can keep up with. That is why our cellular companies are in transformation mode. Each is trying to make sure they are in the forefront of the data growth wave because the growth in the future is in data as voice revenues level off. Their biggest fear for doing that is the loss of their customers to somesone who can give them what they want. The Internet, which has revolutionised industries all around the world, is causing ripples in another seemingly more modern industry.

Need for change
Over the past two years, Malaysian celcos have been reshaping and re-inventing themselves. Their objective is to keep users on their networks. Celcom Axiata Bhd has been in transformation over the past two years. In its journey, it sees that by 2015, 50% of its revenues will come from data and the remaining 50% from voice. Data contribute just under 40% of revenue today. The have set up consumer labs and paid top dollar to experts to know what their users want. It has also flattened its decision-making processes into three three units where its CEO Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly heads one and the most important of all – the one that zeroes in on the customer.

“Where the industry is going depends on different facets. Companies like us have to make a choice as where to specialise in, where to dominate and what to be good at. We may want to drop things that we do not want and approaching the market as a single mass may no longer be applicable. We will see companies taking unique positions and giving unique offerings,” he says. The battle lines have been drawn and for Shazalli, Celcom has to be seen as a company where a customer has access to from every possible angle and circumstances.

DiGi.Com Bhd too is on a transformation journey ever since its new CEO Henrik Clausen came on board in May 2010. Its tagline of “Internet for all” is the direction the company is focused on. Maxis Bhd , the largest cellular company in the country by subcribers, is on a similar journey. Its CEO Sandip Das says: “It is not an option but a need and there may be many life cycles.” Even Das has reorganised the group so that there is strong operating leadership combination with two COOs.

U Mobile Sdn Bhd under Dr Kaizad Heerjee has been making some noise and is gaining traction in the broadband world. It is not easy when there are three big players but operators like U Mobile, Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd (P1) , RedTone International Bhd and YTL Communications Bhd have a place in the market space and they are providing Internet connections to their customers and continue to skirmish against the big three. All operating cellular and wireless players are in expansion mode and in the same direction.

Written by Cindy Yeap    Wednesday, 07 December 2011               

REDtone International Bhd and billionaire Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s Puncak Semangat Sdn Bhd have a tad more to cheer about among the nine fourth generation (4G) spectrum winners. All nine will receive the coveted resource after their business plans are approved by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), sources said.

“While Puncak Semangat’s 30Mhz [of 4G spectrum] is at least 10Mhz bigger than all other winners, everyone else has existing spectrum — 900Mhz, 1800Mhz, 1900Mhz [3G] or 2.3Ghz [WiMAX]. From that perspective, the bigger existing players still have more spectrum,” said a source close to the regulators.

“The decision was made to bring in new entrants and allow room for market forces, and in that light the spectrum allocations are equitable, though not entirely equal,” the source told The Edge Financial Daily. “We believe Puncak has the financial resources for a decent rollout,” the source said.

The 4G allocation will give REDtone, whose existing 2.3Ghz WiMAX licence is limited to Sabah and Sarawak, a licence to roll out mobile services in Peninsular Malaysia and a more level playing field relative to the remaining three WiMAX spectrum holders, the source said. Its challenge, however, will be to secure the necessary funds for a wider rollout, an observer said.

To recap, all four 3G spectrum assignment holders — Maxis Bhd, Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd and U Mobile Sdn Bhd — stand to receive 20Mhz of 4G spectrum. Like REDtone, two other WiMAX spectrum holders — Green Packet Bhd’s Packet One (Networks) Sdn Bhd and YTL Communications Sdn Bhd — will also receive 20Mhz of 4G spectrum in January 2013, if their business plans are accepted by the MCMC.

The remaining WiMAX spectrum holder, Asiaspace Sdn Bhd, will be given a 10Mhz block of 4G spectrum, provided its business plan gets MCMC’s go-ahead. Asiaspace, will also need to settle a sizeable fine first for not meeting rollout commitments made in its WiMAX business plan submission, another source added.

All nine winners will need to submit their 4G rollout plans to the MCMC by Dec 15 and pay a RM5 million irrevocable guarantee for every 10Mhz of spectrum.

But why not just give bigger blocks of spectrum to the big boys? After all, only three out of seven newcomers in the mobile telecoms space have decent-sized coverage and service offerings close to five years since the powers that be decided to sidestep incumbents and allow new entrants. Didn’t one 3G pectrum winner even make money from transferring its 3G spectrum?

Moreover, easily 94% of Malaysia’s 35.7 million mobile phone users are with the big three — Maxis, Celcom and DiGi — and they have the most money to invest, going by their earnings pool. Wouldn’t giving them more spectrum help on network quality?

“Yes, incumbents have a lot more subscribers, but they still have a lot more spectrum than the new entrants. Their spectrum allocation is already bigger than the likes of Vodafone in the UK, which has a bigger population size and wider geographical area to cover,” an industry observer pointed out. This could not be independently verified at press time.

“Are you satisfied with your current mobile phone service?” the observer asked, drawing attention to the sizeable earnings margins of 45% to over  50% that the big boy operators here command.

“Those margins are very high by industry standards. I’d call 30% a decent margin. From where I stand, that level of margins either means operators are not investing enough money in network or they’re charging customers too much,” the observer added.

Maxis, the leader in terms of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margin, has maintained that its 50% plus margins are ahead of Celcom’s 45% and DiGi’s 46% because it has a bigger pool of higher spending subscribers.

To be fair, Maxis, Celcom and DiGi have spent an average of RM1 billion a year on improving their networks. And if that level of investment is not enough, only time will tell if the solution is to bring in new players, especially those with smaller purses.

What is certain is that more competition is on the way for existing players and the cost of delivering seamless Internet on-the-go is much higher than enabling voice and plain text message.

To maintain the kind of margins and dividends that their investors have come to expect, telecoms players are already cutting back everything they can and are now letting rivals piggy-back on their networks.

They have even resorted to no longer absorbing the 6% service tax on prepaid users to help shore up margins — or at least they tried. It is understood hat regulators have asked the operators to pass on the cost of the service tax to prepaid users on a staggered basis, instead of doing it at one go.

All that throws into question whether the high margins the big boy operators are enjoying will hold. To be sure, chances are that margins will not immediately collapse, but investors may need to start considering the possibility of smaller growth numbers and, in turn, lower dividend payouts — at least until the mobile broadband space matures.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 7, 2011.



Related  Posts:
1.數碼網絡 (Digi) 正與立通國際（REDTONE)探討合作
2. All nine telecoms players given smaller blocks of 4G spectrum (2.6GHz)
3. Transforming cellular companies 

（吉隆坡30日訊）3G與智能手機滲透率低，為大馬電訊業帶來蓬勃潛力，加上數據營業額上揚與網絡分享協議料支撐業者現金流與股息，電訊業料在利好聲浪中繼續大顯身手。黃氏唯高達研究指出，數據營業額上揚可望支撐電訊領域的現金流，智能手機或平板電腦的使用也料帶動數據業務的強勁需求，並抵銷語音每用戶平均營業額走疲利空，最終助電訊業者一臂之力，提高營運現金流並推動派息。
網絡分享協議減輕資本開銷

此外，電訊公司的網絡分享協議不僅削減資本開銷，也可望釋放更多現金流來推高股息，如亞通（AXIATA，6888，主板貿服組）旗下天地通與數碼網絡（DIGI，6947，主板基建計劃組）分享網絡與基本建設、明訊與U-Mobile的3G無線接入網絡（RAN）共享協議。“這些網絡分享協議，有望引領電訊公司的派息短期內走揚，最終帶動回酬率上揚。”

未納入稅務津貼
值得一提的是，適用於所有電訊公司的稅務津貼，黃氏唯高達也未納入明訊、亞通與馬電訊的盈利預測中，讓這些公司短期內潛存盈利上揚潛力。
數碼網絡去年末季獲得的稅務津貼，預計2012財政年的有效稅率達22至23%，黃氏唯高達相信，這是財政部批准寬頻基健達5年後，資本開銷高達100%的投資稅務津貼。根據該行，流動數據、可負擔數據配套與3G手機需求料節節上升，預計帶動3G與智能手機的滲透率，隨大馬3G與智能手機目前的滲透率低，僅35與19%，成長空間龐大。

“隨明訊（MAXIS，6012，主板貿服組）持續透過提高手機津貼來推動智能手機滲透率，日後的數據營業額有望更上一層樓。” 另外，數據營業貢獻大馬流動電訊總營業28至41%，該行相信，數據續成為大馬電訊業主力，基於網絡分享策略帶動整體網絡覆蓋率與資本節約，該行預見大馬電訊業趕上日本與韓國的數據步伐。
“明訊將是數據使用率上揚的受惠者，主要是明訊的3G覆蓋率達81%，在業者中最高；非簡訊數據營業額也佔數據營業額最高。”

另一方面，寬頻使用率低至54%也料帶動寬頻成長，馬電訊（TM，4863，主板貿服組）與明訊預計率先趕搭固定寬頻風潮，其他3家電訊公司也有望自穩健的流動寬頻市場中受惠。“天地通因提供更具彈性的配套，料在流動寬頻中保持領航地位。”



數碼網絡和馬電訊漲勢驚人
明訊“黑馬”
電訊領域近期表現“超越大市”，但營運賺幅與週息率最高的明訊股價卻較同儕黯然失色，黃氏唯高達認為，市場遲早將發現明訊表現一致與在數據方面的潛力，令明訊成為領域的“黑馬”。

數碼網絡與馬電訊股價漲勢最驚人，去年7月1日至今年1月27日，各飆升25%與38%，2012財政年週息率各自6%與5%，跌至4%。
該行認為，投資者熱捧數碼網絡與馬電訊可能基於兩家公司的盈利表現良好，同時為派息策略部署，即數碼網絡進行5億零900萬令吉的資本管理後，上半年或捎來6.5仙股息；馬電訊在脫售亞通股權後可能派發7.9仙的特別股息。
然而，該行指出，明訊的營運賺幅在領域中最高，達50%，數碼網絡以48%居次，顯然，明訊股價雖落後其他公司，業務表現卻領先。“市場對明訊的預期低，導致明訊去年僅起11%，落後數碼網絡與馬電訊，即使明訊沒有特別股息，明訊6%的週息率依然是領域最高。” 此外，明訊的市佔率達40%，也是領域之最，無疑是數據與智能手機使用率走高的主要受惠者。

明訊的高速寬頻計劃（HSBB）家庭服務，也有望帶來業務上探驚喜。該公司放眼今年高速寬頻計劃的用戶達2萬5千至3萬人，若願望實現勢必對營運盈利有利，而在ASTRO公司的網絡公司（IPTV）支撐下，明訊還可能因此重估。該行基於每用戶平均額走強，上調明訊2012至2013財政年淨利預測1至4%，到22.2億至23.4億令吉。

黃氏唯高達也看好馬電訊，主要是固定寬頻需求走高下Unifi的用戶有望上升，加上特別股息或帶動全年股息達27.5仙或週息率達5.5%。“該股僅以2012年企業價值收益比7倍交易，比較明訊與數碼網絡達10倍，估值頗具吸引力。”（星洲日報／財經）