Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Valuation not so attractive - says one analyst

A valuation analysis from a veteran fundamental analyst -Mr Ramki

Here is my 2 Cent - As someone who has invested/likes Telecom Sector stocks and someone who tracks it.
* The writer (editor at amsost) makes lot of bold assumptions - that the 3G pricing sets the base value for 2G spectrum that is owned by MTS and so MTS carries lot of value. Well owned spectrum alone cannot be the basis for valuation, if it were so, long time incumbents like Airtel are seriously undervalued...
* Subscriber growth of 2008 license baggers like MTS-SS was good till few months back, now incumbents are back in game of market share...
* SSTL is a CDMA Player and that is IMHO a negative...
* One big factor missed is - Govt/DOT has set up stringent rollout obligations for the 2008 license baggers. And if i my memory serves right, the deadline to rollout network is 2011 (3 years) and i dont think MTS has come anywhere near fully meeting its obligations...
* Other factor is dilution of equity , which is not a very positive thing..
* No idea about the Russian management, but why would they invest billions thru equity in a sector like Indian telecom where even established dividend playing Airtel is seeing falling profits ? (They would rather play safe by funding expansion thru debt while owning controlling stake )...
* Overall I am not very positive on this one . However, it is possible that the promoters are determined to take the stock up . If there is revival of interest in telecom stocks, this one can fly for sure .. but otherwise, dont see much hope.
PS - Necessary disc, I own Airtel and so my views could be biased...

Disclaimer

A BLOG FOR ALL THE SHAREHOLDERS OF SSTL (FORMERLY SHYAMTELELINK LTD) TO COME TOGETHER AND DISCUSS ISSUES OF COMMON INTEREST. YOU CAN REACH US AT AMSOST@GMAIL.COM