Citi Research's Arthur Pineda and Luis Hildao have kept their 'buy" call and $3.60 target price on Singapore Telecommunications Z74 following news that the telco's local unit in Australia has been taken to court by local authorities for allegedly selling mobile phones and contracts to customers who cannot afford.
In its Oct 31 statement, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court alleging that Optus Mobile engaged in "unconscionable" conduct in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law.
Singtel has since taken remedial actions that include sacking and or disciplining its employees involved.
"While a fine looks likely, we believe the stock reaction has been overdone," state the analysts, pointing to the drop of some $1.5 billion in market cap following the news.
"Precedents of similar offences by Telstra had resulted in a manageable A$50 million fine in 2021," add Pineda and Hilado, referring to Australia's incumbent telco.
"As such, we do not see this event as materially disrupting operations and earnings or dividends. We thus see minimal risk to Singtel's 6% yield outlook," they add.
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The Citi analysts' $3.60 target price on the stock is derived using a sum-of-the-parts valuation.
However, downside risks to their view include first, Singtel’s benchmark stock status renders it vulnerable to broader market sell-downs.
Next, volatility in regional currencies which may result in varying Singdollar translation of earnings and value.
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In addition, Singtel might incur potential earnings risks linked to new expansion areas such as enterprise services.
On the other hand, upside risks include continued monetization of assets such as data centres and enterprise assets, which could allow for asset revaluations.
Additional improvement in competition in key growth engines such as Indonesia and India is another potential plus point.
Last but not least, a significant easing of interest rates would bring back interest into yield plays.
Singtel as at 11.34 am, changed hands at $3.12, up 0.65% for the day thus far.
