StarHub may be set for a turnaround with incoming CEO after share price plunges 42%

(July 3): After plunging about 42% this year, StarHub shares may be set for a modest turnaround, just as incoming Chief Executive Officer Peter Kaliaropoulos takes over next week.

“There is a bottom,” Ramakrishna Maruvada, an analyst at Daiwa Securities Group, said in an interview. He upgraded the shares to hold from sell last week, citing the plunge this year as evidence that the challenges from rival carriers and from entertainment platforms like Netflix Inc. have been adequately discounted.

Kaliaropoulos, who built a reputation as a turnaround executive by leading Zain Saudi Arabia, takes over July 9 and will have plenty to work on at the company. The entrance of a fourth player, TPG Telecom, in Singapore’s mobile phone market is intensifying competition for subscribers, just as StarHub’s bundling model in which it offers access to film, television and broadband services, is being challenged by streaming powerhouses like Netflix.

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