Telco StarHub has been steadily buying back shares in the fortnight after the telco reported its 3QFY2022 ended September earnings that drew mixed reactions from the market. The company generated higher revenue of $590.8 million in that period, up 14.2% y-o-y. However, earnings was down 32% y-o-y to $27.4 million as higher costs bite.
The most recent buyback was on Nov 21 when StarHub bought back 41,200 shares at $1.05. This brings the total number of shares bought back under the current mandate to nearly 2.84 million shares or 1.63% of the total share base. Before this, StarHub on Nov 15, 16, 17 and 18 acquired a total of 1,185,000 shares at between $1.04 and $1.05.
In his Nov 10 note, Maybank Securities analyst Kelvin Tan kept his “buy” call on the stock but with a slightly higher target price of $1.33 from $1.32 previously. He notes that the company’s 9MFY2022 ended September earnings had met his expectations, although it was apparent StarHub was incurring higher costs.
