Author: tfwee
SPAUSNET-BT
SP AusNet said on Friday that it has filed its defence with the Supreme Court of Victoria concerning the Feb 7, 2009, Black Saturday bushfire known as the Kilmore East fire.
SP AusNet denies it was negligent and claims that its conduct was at all times reasonable as well as in compliance with technical regulations.
The company is facing a class action with more than 600 claimants against it. The action claims that proper maintenance and correctly identifying a damaged power line could have avoided the Kilmore East fire.
SP AusNet has also made counterclaims against several parties: the Department of Sustainability and Environment, the State of Victoria (Victoria Police), the Country Fire Authority and a contracted inspector of electricity assets.
The purpose of the counterclaim is to join other parties where they may be relevant to the Court's consideration of the causes and consequences of the Kilmore East fire.
If SP AusNet's defence of the claim is successful, the counterclaim will become irrelevant and will not be pursued.
Telco – Macquarie
Singapore telecoms sector
Misplaced fears on 3G auction
Event
There appear to be fresh concerns over a possible increase in competition in the mobile market post the 3G auction date announced by IDA (Infocomm Development Authority). We believe the fears are misplaced and that the market should concentrate on the more important event of NGNBN. We reiterate our view that StarHub is the best proxy to NGNBN and any weakness in the share price over the 3G auction event should be seen as an entry opportunity.
Impact
What is up for grabs?
⇒ 3 lots of 2 X 5MHz 3G spectrum up for auction: Reserve price of S$20m/lot has been set with the auction date as 15 November.
⇒ These lots have been lying idle since 2001: Ever since the three telcos were awarded 3G spectrum in 2001, these three lots have been lying idle.
What are the possibilities?
⇒ A fourth mobile operator could jump in: Two lots of 2 X 5MHz should be sufficient for a new mobile operator to start operating in Singapore with a target base of 1m subscribers. The reserve price is also attractive.
⇒ One of the existing telcos could bid for the future: In the light of exponentially increasing data traffic, one or more of the existing telcos could bid for one or more slots. This could spike up the reserve price.
⇒ If no one bids, IDA could distribute the spectrum: The three telcos have been asking for this for a while. However, IDA has been resisting this proposal as it wants a transparent auction and a higher price for lots.
⇒ Spectrum remains idle: The existing telcos have upgraded to HSPA+ network and are trialling LTE technology, which should aid network capacity as greater traffic occurs. There is also room to re-farm the 2G spectrum. Thus, the three telcos could abstain from bidding for spectrum.
Outlook
Remote possibility of a fourth player: We expect the likely outcome to bein favour of existing telcos, as we do not see a new player entering the Singapore mobile market in a hurry. Our reasons are:
⇒ Singapore is 140% penetrated in mobile: We believe penetration is at its peak with annual growth in mobile expected to be in the low single- digits. We doubt new operators would want to enter such a market.
⇒ Requires huge capex to roll out services: In addition to spending at least S$40m for two lots of spectrum, the new operator will have to shell out at least S$200–300m in upfront investments.
⇒ Virgin Mobile entered in 2002 but lasted only a year: In the less competitive market of 2002, a fourth player lasted but a year.
⇒ Only an international player with capacity to absorb initial losses could enter: Given the high capex and long gestation period to recover costs, we believe the probability of local players entering such as LGA or SuperInternet is low. An international player could take a chance on the improving 3G market and play on differential pricing.
Telco – Macquarie
Singapore telecoms sector
Misplaced fears on 3G auction
Event
There appear to be fresh concerns over a possible increase in competition in the mobile market post the 3G auction date announced by IDA (Infocomm Development Authority). We believe the fears are misplaced and that the market should concentrate on the more important event of NGNBN. We reiterate our view that StarHub is the best proxy to NGNBN and any weakness in the share price over the 3G auction event should be seen as an entry opportunity.
Impact
What is up for grabs?
⇒ 3 lots of 2 X 5MHz 3G spectrum up for auction: Reserve price of S$20m/lot has been set with the auction date as 15 November.
⇒ These lots have been lying idle since 2001: Ever since the three telcos were awarded 3G spectrum in 2001, these three lots have been lying idle.
What are the possibilities?
⇒ A fourth mobile operator could jump in: Two lots of 2 X 5MHz should be sufficient for a new mobile operator to start operating in Singapore with a target base of 1m subscribers. The reserve price is also attractive.
⇒ One of the existing telcos could bid for the future: In the light of exponentially increasing data traffic, one or more of the existing telcos could bid for one or more slots. This could spike up the reserve price.
⇒ If no one bids, IDA could distribute the spectrum: The three telcos have been asking for this for a while. However, IDA has been resisting this proposal as it wants a transparent auction and a higher price for lots.
⇒ Spectrum remains idle: The existing telcos have upgraded to HSPA+ network and are trialling LTE technology, which should aid network capacity as greater traffic occurs. There is also room to re-farm the 2G spectrum. Thus, the three telcos could abstain from bidding for spectrum.
Outlook
Remote possibility of a fourth player: We expect the likely outcome to bein favour of existing telcos, as we do not see a new player entering the Singapore mobile market in a hurry. Our reasons are:
⇒ Singapore is 140% penetrated in mobile: We believe penetration is at its peak with annual growth in mobile expected to be in the low single- digits. We doubt new operators would want to enter such a market.
⇒ Requires huge capex to roll out services: In addition to spending at least S$40m for two lots of spectrum, the new operator will have to shell out at least S$200–300m in upfront investments.
⇒ Virgin Mobile entered in 2002 but lasted only a year: In the less competitive market of 2002, a fourth player lasted but a year.
⇒ Only an international player with capacity to absorb initial losses could enter: Given the high capex and long gestation period to recover costs, we believe the probability of local players entering such as LGA or SuperInternet is low. An international player could take a chance on the improving 3G market and play on differential pricing.
M1 – BT
M1 Limited announced on Thursday that its net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010 was up 10 per cent from a year ago, at S$40.8 million, fuelling the telco's optimism that FY2010 net profit will be better than FY2009.
'Based on the current outlook, net profit after tax for the year 2010 is likely toimprove, compared to 2009,' said Karen Kooi, M1's chief executive officer,
The improved bottomline was due to higher service revenue.
Operating revenue for the second quarter was up 17 per cent year-on-year atS$223.1 million.
M1's total customer base was 1.849 million as at 30 June 2010. For 2Q10, M1 added 53,000 customers, of which 21,000 were postpaid customers and 32,000 were prepaid customers.
Non-voice services contributed 30.8% of service revenue, up from 25.1% a year ago, driven by growth in the mobile broadband and smartphone customer base.
M1's board has declared an interim dividend of 6.3 cents per share, up from 6.2 cents a share a year ago.
SPH – BT
SINGAPORE – OCBC has raised its target price for Singapore Press Holdings to $4.63 from $4.31 and kept its 'buy' rating, citing stronger than expected third-quarter earnings and positive outlook for the rest of the fiscal year.
'In view of the strong results and positive outlook, we therefore believe that the group is likely to gain further traction within its various business segments,' said OCBC in a report.
But OCBC noted newsprint prices are likely to rise due to cost pressures, hence potentially increasing newsprint charge-out rates. Staff costs are also expected to rise amid higher bonus provisions.
SPH shares have risen about 7 per cent year-to-date to its last closing price of $3.93.
On Monday, SPH said its February-May net profit rose 29.9 per cent from a year ago to $164.6 million (US$119.3 million). — REUTERS