Maybank Securities has upgraded the rating of Advanced Info Service (AIS), the Thai associate of Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), from "Hold" to "Buy", citing the stock's strong prospects and attractive returns.
The company's optimism is based on the expectation of an 11% growth in core profit for the fiscal year 2025, as well as an expected dividend yield of 4% to 5% for the fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
Maybank has also raised its target price for the bank from 301 Thai baht to 307 Thai baht, while increasing the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) forecast for the fiscal year 2025 by 2%.
At the close of trading on February 13, AIS's share price was 304 Thai baht. Its Singapore Depository Receipts listed on the Singapore Exchange were priced at S$1.20.
The brokerage also pointed out that AIS's core profit in the fourth quarter was "a record high", reaching 10 billion Thai baht (equivalent to S$397.7 million), 14% higher than expected. Net profit in the fourth quarter was 9.3 billion Thai baht.
The company added, "Profits exceeded our expectations due to strong core service revenues and lower - than - expected administrative expenses."
Maybank said that revenues were 1% higher than expected, and administrative expenses were 16% lower than expected.
The company expects revenue growth to reach 4% in the fiscal year 2025. It also said that growth in mobile, fixed - broadband and enterprise revenues will drive this increase. AIS aims for revenue growth of 3% to 5%.
The brokerage firm said, "Mobile revenue growth should stem from increased data usage and packages beyond data plans, such as premium streaming subscriptions bundled with unlimited data, resulting in a 2% increase in ARPU (average revenue per user)."
The company also forecasts that fixed - broadband revenue growth will come from a 5% increase in ARPU and a 5% increase in the number of users.
Maybank also expects that AIS's core profit growth will outpace EBITDA growth due to flat depreciation and amortization expenses and a 9% decline in interest expenses.
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