SingTel – BT
mio TV to air 3,200 hours of 2012 Olympics
Broadcast to be over 13 channels and is free for subscribers
SINGTEL’S coup of wresting ESPN Star Sports (ESS) from StarHub in 2009 might make this year a gold-medal one for the telco. Its pay TV operator, mio TV, will air more than 3,200 hours of the London 2012 Olympic Games on 13 channels because of its partnership with ESS. ESS had won the broadcast rights for London 2012 in a blanket deal for 22 countries in Asia.
This unprecedented scale of coverage will be free for all mio TV subscribers. Of the 13 channels, 10 will be dedicated to high-definition screening of the games which start in July. The other three – ESPN, Star Sports and ESPNEWS – will also provide Olympic coverage.
SingTel announced this yesterday, alongside its five-year sponsorship of the Singapore team at major Singapore National Olympic Council-sanctioned games, including the ones at London 2012.
‘We genuinely believe that the Singapore sports viewer is growing in his needs. It’s not just limited to where Singapore is playing. This trend is only going to grow,’ said Manu Sawhney, managing director of ESS.
He noted that during the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, TV viewership in Asia soared 60 per cent. ‘We expect whatever viewership figures we had last time to be blown through the roof.’
The last time the Olympic games aired in Singapore, it was rival operator StarHub that dominated the broadcast, with six channels. Other things were different in 2008, too. Then, ESS had been a partner of StarHub’s before its surprise switch to mio TV in 2009.
This time around, StarHub will not be airing any of the ‘live’ competitions. Instead, its coverage will take place through CNN’s highlights and interviews, as well as BBC World News’ coverage of results and Olympic-related material such as the Olympic Torch Relay.
MediaCorp, when contacted yesterday, declined to reveal broadcast plans but said that it is ‘planning for coverage beyond TV’ and will reveal more when the ‘full communication package is ready’.
‘Bearing in mind that there is going to be so much on display, we certainly are hoping for a huge spike in the number of people who are watching this, compared to previous Olympic games,’ said Allen Lew, SingTel CEO Singapore.
SingTel is moving as fast as it can to make hay before the horizon is darkened by cross-carriage laws that were mandated last year. Under this law, any exclusive content acquired after March 2010 has to be made available to a subscriber of a rival operator upon request.
For London 2012, SingTel’s partnership with ESS still leaves StarHub out in the cold because it was inked in 2009, before the cross-carriage mandate kicked in.
Even so, the fallout for StarHub over its lack of Olympic games coverage will be muted, some believe. ‘It’s hard to imagine significant customer movement,’ said Nomura analyst Sachin Gupta. ‘Olympics will be over a few weeks and similar to the Barclays Premier League, we may see some switching, or more customers could opt for two set-top boxes. In any case, customer’s wallet share will be redistributed.’
SingTel’s multi-year agreement with ESPN Star Sports, however, expires in mid-2013, BT understands.
After that, any exclusive deal will be at the mercy of the cross-carriage law. Even as mio TV’s ESPN advantage comes up for renegotiation, so will its chokehold on the Barclays Premier League which also expires next year.
‘The Premier League will decide how they want to sell the rights for this, whether it will be an auction like last time or (by) some other means,’ said Mr Lew yesterday. ‘Traditionally, they would do it about 12-15 months before the rights expire so we expect something about the process to be announced towards Q3 or Q4 this year.’
SATS – BT
SATS acting CEO named president, CEO
Tan Chuan Lye’s promotion takes effect from April 1 and comes after an eight-month global search
AFTER an eight-month global search, SATS Ltd has confirmed acting CEO Tan Chuan Lye as its president and CEO with effect from April 1.
In an announcement yesterday, SATS said it had decided to retain and promote Mr Tan ‘following a rigorous selection process involving a number of outstanding internal and external candidates for this role’.
Mr Tan took over as acting CEO and executive vice-president, food solutions, of SATS, following the sudden and unexplained departure of previous CEO and president, Clement Woon, in July last year.
Mr Woon, who came to the company in November 2007 after a 10-year stint in Switzerland with spatial surveying company Leica Geosystems AG, cited his decision to ‘pursue personal interests’ at the time.
Under Mr Woon’s stewardship, SATS broke away from its erstwhile parent Singapore Airlines (which owned 81 per cent of SATS) and created its own branding and identity. Instead of focusing only on the aviation business which was highly cyclical, it decided to diversify its business. In 2009, the company acquired Singapore Food Industries, a food manufacturer and supplier.
Mr Tan is himself a seasoned veteran of the aviation industry, and has been with SATS since 1976.
In a career spanning 35 years, he has held managerial and key decision-making positions in SIA Ground Services and SATS Airport Services, and was responsible for both SIA and SATS’ Changi Terminal 2 operations. He was appointed senior vice-president for catering in 2000 and was promoted to executive vice-president, food solutions, in 2009 to oversee and grow SATS’ aviation and non-aviation food businesses.
SATS chairman Edmund Cheng said the company was pleased to select Mr Tan to helm it.
‘Since he assumed the position of acting CEO in July 2011, Chuan Lye has demonstrated strong leadership capabilities and was ably supported by his management team and staff,’ he said. ‘Over the years, he has been closely involved in growing and transforming SATS to what it is today.’
SATS reported a 25.4 per cent drop in net profit to $38.2 million for the third quarter to end-December 2011 due to rising costs, falling contribution from joint ventures and associates, and a weaker US dollar.
For the nine months ended December 2011, SATS posted net profit of $120.8 million, down 14.1 per cent from $140.7 million a year earlier.
In October 2011, SATS announced the disposal of Daniels Group in the UK, recognising a loss on disposal of $5.5 million.
The company now faces a second competitor at Changi with the emergence of US-based Aircraft Service International Group, while the aviation sector is flying into turbulence due to high fuel costs and flattish yields.
Its Singapore International Cruise Terminal venture, where it has a 60 per cent stake in a partnership with Creuers Cruise Services holding the remaining share, is not expected to be profitable until the end of next year.
SATS – BT
SATS acting CEO named president, CEO
Tan Chuan Lye’s promotion takes effect from April 1 and comes after an eight-month global search
AFTER an eight-month global search, SATS Ltd has confirmed acting CEO Tan Chuan Lye as its president and CEO with effect from April 1.
In an announcement yesterday, SATS said it had decided to retain and promote Mr Tan ‘following a rigorous selection process involving a number of outstanding internal and external candidates for this role’.
Mr Tan took over as acting CEO and executive vice-president, food solutions, of SATS, following the sudden and unexplained departure of previous CEO and president, Clement Woon, in July last year.
Mr Woon, who came to the company in November 2007 after a 10-year stint in Switzerland with spatial surveying company Leica Geosystems AG, cited his decision to ‘pursue personal interests’ at the time.
Under Mr Woon’s stewardship, SATS broke away from its erstwhile parent Singapore Airlines (which owned 81 per cent of SATS) and created its own branding and identity. Instead of focusing only on the aviation business which was highly cyclical, it decided to diversify its business. In 2009, the company acquired Singapore Food Industries, a food manufacturer and supplier.
Mr Tan is himself a seasoned veteran of the aviation industry, and has been with SATS since 1976.
In a career spanning 35 years, he has held managerial and key decision-making positions in SIA Ground Services and SATS Airport Services, and was responsible for both SIA and SATS’ Changi Terminal 2 operations. He was appointed senior vice-president for catering in 2000 and was promoted to executive vice-president, food solutions, in 2009 to oversee and grow SATS’ aviation and non-aviation food businesses.
SATS chairman Edmund Cheng said the company was pleased to select Mr Tan to helm it.
‘Since he assumed the position of acting CEO in July 2011, Chuan Lye has demonstrated strong leadership capabilities and was ably supported by his management team and staff,’ he said. ‘Over the years, he has been closely involved in growing and transforming SATS to what it is today.’
SATS reported a 25.4 per cent drop in net profit to $38.2 million for the third quarter to end-December 2011 due to rising costs, falling contribution from joint ventures and associates, and a weaker US dollar.
For the nine months ended December 2011, SATS posted net profit of $120.8 million, down 14.1 per cent from $140.7 million a year earlier.
In October 2011, SATS announced the disposal of Daniels Group in the UK, recognising a loss on disposal of $5.5 million.
The company now faces a second competitor at Changi with the emergence of US-based Aircraft Service International Group, while the aviation sector is flying into turbulence due to high fuel costs and flattish yields.
Its Singapore International Cruise Terminal venture, where it has a 60 per cent stake in a partnership with Creuers Cruise Services holding the remaining share, is not expected to be profitable until the end of next year.
STEng – Kim Eng
Prized for stability and attractive yield
The big picture. Investors buy ST Engineering (STE) for its attractive 5% dividend yield. On its part, the company continues to deliver on its earnings despite a challenging environment. However, share price upside is limited by a lack of fresh catalysts. While we believe that the negative press on its India defence issue is overblown, any pullback on the back of this presents a good entry point. Fundamentally, the stock remains a Hold as the forward PER of 17x represents full value.
India debarment not a big deal. STE’s defence-related subsidiary ST Kinetics was blacklisted by India’s Criminal Bureau of Investigation in connection with a corruption probe at India’s defence procurement agency. STE said there is no evidence implicating them. However, with a reputation to protect, we understand its insistence in clearing its name. Though India has never been a major contributor to its defence earnings, the country’s potential as a major arms buyer is significant. A clean reputation is useful in bidding for defence contracts globally.
Yields sustainable. Following its 7% growth in net earnings for FY11, STE declared a final and special dividend totalling 12.5 cents per share for a full-year payout of 15.5 cents per share, or a yield of 4.9%. Exdate is 25 April 2012. Even though STE expects to maintain its healthy payout ratio of 90% of earnings, we note that it was cash-flow-negative in 2011 due to higher working capital on negative variances in receivables and advances, as well as higher capex. We expect this situation to normalise in FY12. Cash and equivalents stands at $1.36b.
Neutral, all things considered. STE’s $12.3b orderbook supports earnings across the different divisions. It also has a healthy mix of commercial and military contracts. The company expects to achieve higher earnings for FY12, which is in line with our forecast of a modest 7% earnings growth. This will support its dividend payout and mitigate any downside. However, a lack of clear catalysts also limits upside, hence our Hold recommendation on the stock. Our target price of $2.88 remains pegged at 15x forward earnings, in line with its historical mean.
STEng – Kim Eng
Prized for stability and attractive yield
The big picture. Investors buy ST Engineering (STE) for its attractive 5% dividend yield. On its part, the company continues to deliver on its earnings despite a challenging environment. However, share price upside is limited by a lack of fresh catalysts. While we believe that the negative press on its India defence issue is overblown, any pullback on the back of this presents a good entry point. Fundamentally, the stock remains a Hold as the forward PER of 17x represents full value.
India debarment not a big deal. STE’s defence-related subsidiary ST Kinetics was blacklisted by India’s Criminal Bureau of Investigation in connection with a corruption probe at India’s defence procurement agency. STE said there is no evidence implicating them. However, with a reputation to protect, we understand its insistence in clearing its name. Though India has never been a major contributor to its defence earnings, the country’s potential as a major arms buyer is significant. A clean reputation is useful in bidding for defence contracts globally.
Yields sustainable. Following its 7% growth in net earnings for FY11, STE declared a final and special dividend totalling 12.5 cents per share for a full-year payout of 15.5 cents per share, or a yield of 4.9%. Exdate is 25 April 2012. Even though STE expects to maintain its healthy payout ratio of 90% of earnings, we note that it was cash-flow-negative in 2011 due to higher working capital on negative variances in receivables and advances, as well as higher capex. We expect this situation to normalise in FY12. Cash and equivalents stands at $1.36b.
Neutral, all things considered. STE’s $12.3b orderbook supports earnings across the different divisions. It also has a healthy mix of commercial and military contracts. The company expects to achieve higher earnings for FY12, which is in line with our forecast of a modest 7% earnings growth. This will support its dividend payout and mitigate any downside. However, a lack of clear catalysts also limits upside, hence our Hold recommendation on the stock. Our target price of $2.88 remains pegged at 15x forward earnings, in line with its historical mean.