By Ying Xian Wong
Axiata shares fell Monday, as analysts said the market is digesting news on its outlook from a Friday briefing.
The Malaysian telecommunications conglomerate stock fell by as much as 6.5% and were last trading at 2.76 ringgit, down 5.2% on the day and 11% in the year to date.
Kenanga Investment Bank analyst Ahmad Ramzani Ramli said in an email that Axiata said in the Friday briefing that it will continue with its expansion and transition to become a telco-tech company, and it didn’t provide news about a strategic investor for its telco tower unit, Edotco.
“All this indicates [Axiata’s] debt or borrowings will still be elevated despite what the [its target of] a gross debt/Ebitda of 2.5X (currently at 3.4X) by 2025.”, he said.
Apex Securities research analyst Lee Cherng Wee said the share price weakness is probably due in part to Chief Executive Vivek Sood saying during the briefing that the company expects to issue a lower dividend of MYR0.10 per share for 2023, impacted by the merger of Celcom Axiata and Digi.com. Axiata declared a MYR0.14 dividend per share last year.
Axiata’s weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings may also be weighing on shares, he said in an email.
Axiata said Thursday that its first quarter swung to net profit of MYR73.9 million from net loss of MYR43 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher revenue and narrower forex losses. Quarterly revenue rose 7.9% to MYR5.38 billion thanks to mobile operations in Indonesia and Cambodia.
Write to Ying Xian Wong at [email protected]
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