SINGAPORE (Feb 26): Even as he prepares to step down, StarHub CEO and executive director Tan Tong Hai is keeping some skin in the game. On Feb 15, Tan acquired 200,000 StarHub shares at $2.59 each for a total consideration of $518,000. This raises his stake in the company from 0.03% to 0.04%. Tan will relinquish his positions in StarHub on May 1 to pursue his own interests, the company announced on Nov 17, 2017. StarHub is currently on a “global executive search” for its new CEO.
The telco’s shares have fallen 9.2% over the past year, closing at $2.58 on Feb 20. On Feb 15, StarHub saw its shares plunge 10.1% to a low of $2.56. A day earlier, it posted a 27.1% y-o-y fall in earnings for FY2017 ended Dec 31 to $249 million. Revenue inched up just 0.2% to $2.4 billion. Revenue from enterprise fixed services and sales of equipment had risen 9.2% and 8.8% y-o-y, respectively. But this was offset by a 7.6% decline in revenue from pay-TV. Meanwhile, revenue from the -mobile -segment — which -accounted for 49.9% of the revenue mix in FY2017 — was down 1.5%. StarHub attributed this to lower voice, IDD and roaming usage, as well as lower plan subscription and interconnect revenues.
Analysts have largely been grim on StarHub’s prospects. OCBC Investment Research has a “sell” call on the stock, with fair value of $2.20. In a Feb 21 report, analysts Eugene Chua and Low Pei Han expressed doubt about the telco’s ability to sustain a four-cent quarterly dividend beyond FY2018. This comes as the industry is increasingly saturated. “Looking ahead, the telecom sector will remain under pressure with the entry of two new mobile virtual network operators as well as the impending entry of TPG [Telecom],” they say. They urge investors to switch out of StarHub to Singapore Telecommunications, for a more “diversified earnings base”. The research house has a “buy” call on the latter, with a price target of $4.15.
