Bottom line: Beijing should be commended for its recent program to open up telecoms services to private investment, and should consider accelerating the program and allowing in foreign participation.
Beijing injects competition into telecoms services
A campaign to bring private money into China’s telecoms sector was in the headlines twice over the last 2 weeks, reflecting a broader Beijing campaign to inject new life into traditional sectors like banking and energy that are now dominated by large and often slow-moving state-run firms.
One headline came late last week, when media reported that 20 million new phone numbers would be injected into a year-old program allowing private companies to sell mobile service. That followed even bigger news a week earlier, when media said the telecoms regulator hoped to allow private investors to build domestic telecoms network infrastructure for the first time. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The latest negative headlines on Unicom and its confusing earnings reflect its broader dysfunction and a lack of investor interest in its stock, though a major new share buyback could provide a good short-term buying opportunity.
Unicom in big share repurchase
I’ve always wondered which investors were fans of China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), which based on media and its own earnings reports is easily the most disorganized and dysfunctional of the nation’s big 3 telcos. Now I’m finally learning the answer to that question, with Unicom’s announcement of a major plan to buy back up to 10 percent of its Hong Kong-listed shares. That would equate to a massive $3.6 billion worth of stock, based on the company’s current market value, in what would easily be one of the biggest share buybacks I’ve ever seen. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 18. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Uber, Yidao To Merge Under Baidu-Led (Nasdaq: BIDU) Plan – Source (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Post-IPO Lock-Up Period Ends, Releasing 340 Mln Shares (Chinese article)
Unicom Proposes Plan To Buy Back Up To 10 Pct Of Shares (HKEx announcement)
Phoenix Satellite TV Announces Full-Year 2014 Results (HKEx announcement)
Solar Power Installation To Hit 17.8 Gigawatts This Year, Ahead Of Forecasts (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Says Tech Firms Have Nothing To Fear From Anti-Terror Law (English article)
China’s Net Mobile Users Could Shrink This Year – Unicom (HKEx: 762) Chief (Chinese article)
Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Announces Q4 And Full Year 2014 Results (PRNewswire)
Phoenix SatelliteTV (HKEx: 3002) Warns Of 24-32 Pct Profit Drop For 2014 (HKEx announcement)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Launches 4G Roaming Services in 71 Countries And Regions (PRNewswire)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 28-March 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China issues 4G FDD Licences To China Telecom (HKEx: 728), Unicom (HKEx: 762) (English article)
China draft Counterterror Law Strikes Fear In Foreign Tech Firms (English article)
Bottom line: China Telecom and Unicom are likely to launch aggressive 4G promotions over the Lunar New Year holiday, sparking a recruiting war that could see up to a third of China’s mobile users on 4G service by the end of 2015.
4G blitz to charge up Year of the Sheep
A flurry of telecoms stories are buzzing through the airwaves on this last trading day of the Lunar Year in China, setting the stage for a turbocharged Year of the Sheep that should see the nation’s 3 telcos embark on a massive free-for-all to sign up subscribers for their new 4G networks. That certainly doesn’t sound too good for profits, since all 3 telcos will be spending heavily on both promotions and infrastructure to build their new networks. But investors could still get excited about these 3 telcos if they can get users to boost their spending, reversing a years-old trend that has seen average user spending steadily decrease. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Rumors of a China Telecom-Unicom merger are probably false since they would leave just 2 big players in the market, though the talk could reflect the regulator’s frustration at the continued dominance of China Mobile.
Regulator hangs up on telecoms merger rumors
Everyone else is buzzing today about rumors that the smaller of China’s 3 telcos would merge, so I feel obliged to add my 2 cents to the discussion, even though the deal has been denied by one of the companies and the industry regulator. Of course this kind of denial isn’t very meaningful in China, where companies will vehemently deny a rumor one day and then the next day announce a deal that showed the talk was indeed correct. But in this case, a merger of China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 763; NYSE: CHU) really doesn’t make much sense for a number of reasons. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Merger Speculation Sends Chinese Telecom Shares Higher (English article)
Metal Trading Site Zhaogang.com Gets $100 Mln In Financing Round (Chinese article)
Trina (NYSE: TSL) To Build Photovoltaic Plants With PingAn Trust, Jiuzhou Investment (PRNewswire)
US Has Raised Concerns With China About New Cyber Rules: Official (English article)
Geely (HKEx: 175) Gets CBRC Approval For Auto Finance JV With BNP Paribas (HKEx announcement)
Bottom line: China needs to accelerate the opening of its banking sector to foreign participation, or risk losing overseas expertise and investment dollars that could revitalize the sector.
BBVA sells down Citic Bank stake
Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) became the latest major foreign bank to check out of China last week, when it sold off half of its stake in Citic Bank, a unit of one of the nation’s leading financial services groups. The move follows a similar series of sales by other major foreign financial firms over the last 5 years, depriving China’s state-run banks of valuable expertise they could have used as they make the transition from their past as policy lenders to more commercially-oriented institutions. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: New data from the telecoms regulator shows that China Telecom outperformed its rivals last year, and could be set for strong growth as it consolidates around its high-speed wireless data business.
China Telecom outpaces rivals in 2014
Just a month after I expressed disappointment at China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) for its lack of focus in the era of data services, newly released year-end financial data are making me re-think my view. That data appears to portray China Telecom as a company that has made the difficult transformation from a traditional fixed-line operator to a more wireless-focused carrier, meaning it could finally be poised for some strong growth this year as it rolls out a new state-of-the-art 4G network. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Itochu, Charoen (Tokyo: 8001) Pay $10.4 Bln for Stake in Citic (HKEx: 267) (English article)
China Telecom Incremental Increases Outpace China Mobile, Unicom in 2014 (Chinese article)
Spring Airlines (Shanghai: 601021) To Make Trading Debut In Shanghai (Chinese article)
New Oriental (NYSE: EDU) Announces Second Fiscal Quarter Results (PRNewswire)
