Thailand, RP 'attractive': SingTel
Thailand, RP 'attractive': SingTel
Bloomberg, Singapore
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., Southeast Asia's largest phone
company, said the mobile-phone markets in Thailand and the
Philippines remain "attractive" even as growth has slowed.
SingTel, as the company is known, on Thursday reported a 14
percent jump in fiscal first-quarter profit to S$796 million
(US$$482 million) as it gained more phone users in India and
Indonesia.
Pretax profit at its Thai associate, Advanced Info Service
Pcl, fell 2.2 percent to S$76 million while at Globe Telecom
Inc., Singtel's investment in the Philippines, it declined 9.9
percent as sales growth slowed.
"We're long-term investors. We believe fundamentally these are
attractive markets," Chief Executive Lee Hsien Yang, 47, said in
an interview.
"The Thai economy has been going through a slightly rougher
patch in recent times. Competition in Thailand can be quite
intense."
Sales at Globe, the second-largest Philippine cell-phone
operator, grew at the slowest pace in at least five years as
market-leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. offered
cheaper calls through its fixed-line network to its own mobile
users while charging subscribers to other operators more.
Advanced Info, Thailand's biggest cell-phone operator, faces
rising competition as the nation's mobile companies cut prices to
gain market share and retain customers.
"The slowdown in growth in Thailand and the Philippines seems
to be a temporary phase," said Teo Chon Kiat, who helps manage
$1.4 billion of investments in Asia at DBS Asset Management Ltd.
in Singapore, including shares of SingTel.
"But there's still growth, and in the longer run they will do
better than the developed markets like Singapore and Australia."
Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy, may expand
as little as 3.5 percent this year, from 6.1 percent growth in
2004, amid rising fuel costs and a widening trade deficit, the
central bank said on July 28.
Lee said the company will continue to look for acquisitions
although with a "disciplined approach."
"Paying the highest price doesn't necessarily always mean
having a successful strategy," he said.