Telco/Internet specialist

Kirk Boodry

Redex Research

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

The telecom sector seems like a notable winner with a change in political leadership.  Pushing through mobile price reductions was one of the few policy successes for the Suga administration and record low approval ratings meant a revival of the issues was never entirely off the table. New leadership without historical ties to the regulator is an improvement. We remain positive on Japanese telecoms with Buy ratings for NTT, KDDI and Softbank.

The telecom sector seems like a notable winner with a change in political leadership.  Pushing through mobile price reductions was one of the few policy successes for the Suga administration and record low approval ratings meant a revival of the issues was never entirely off the table. New leadership without historical ties to the regulator is an improvement. We remain positive on Japanese telecoms with Buy ratings for NTT, KDDI and Softbank.   

Japan Telecoms - Surprise Resignation of the Prime Minister Should Ease Regulatory Pressure

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

Last Week in Event SPACE: SOHO China, Evergrande, Kerry Logistics, Milton, CBA, NTT

Travis Lundy

NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) / Event-Driven

With its Q1 earnings release on Friday 6 August, NTT also announced a buyback. This is the seventh large buyback in five years. The buyback programs for on-market buyback announced from 2016-2019 were ¥150bn in size, uniformly. Since then, the two on-market buybacks have been ¥250bn. One might have expected this one to be ¥150-200bn but at ¥250bn it is likely at the high end of expectations for three reasons.<ol>
<li>In order to buy back ¥300bn next time from the government, it needs to buy back ¥250bn from the market this time. </li>
<li>This larger buyback represents continued effort at offsetting the dilution from the ¥200bn share sale to Toyota in March 2020, and </li>
<li>This larger buyback represents NTT using the additional earnings power of NTT Docomo. NTT used to buy back shares from the market and from NTT, then NTT would take that cash and capital and buy back its own shares. Now NTT Docomo doesn't have to spend any money on buybacks from minority shareholders. All of its cash can go to the parent NTT. NTT therefore has more to spend on buybacks. Given several of the recent NTT Docomo buybacks were on the order of ¥300bn, the one-third of that amount which did not accrue to NTT now does. So now it accrues to NTT shareholders. </li>
</ol>I expect a buyback size of ¥250-300bn to be the new standard.Of course, this lets us take a look at NTT vs its competitors KDDI and Softbank Corp yet again, and compare the impact on the market of the various buyback programs in place.More below the fold.

With its Q1 earnings release on Friday 6 August, NTT also announced a buyback. This is the seventh large buyback in five years. The buyback programs for on-market buyback announced from 2016-2019 were ¥150bn in size, uniformly. Since then, the two on-market buybacks have been ¥250bn. One might have expected this one to be ¥150-200bn but at ¥250bn it is likely at the high end of expectations for three reasons.
In order to buy back ¥300bn next time from the government, it needs to buy back ¥250bn from the market this time. 
This larger buyback represents continued effort at offsetting the dilution from the ¥200bn share sale to Toyota in March 2020, and 
This larger buyback represents NTT using the additional earnings power of NTT Docomo. NTT used to buy back shares from the market and from NTT, then NTT would take that cash and capital and buy back its own shares. Now NTT Docomo doesn't have to spend any money on buybacks from minority shareholders. All of its cash can go to the parent NTT. NTT therefore has more to spend on buybacks. Given several of the recent NTT Docomo buybacks were on the order of ¥300bn, the one-third of that amount which did not accrue to NTT now does. So now it accrues to NTT shareholders. 
I expect a buyback size of ¥250-300bn to be the new standard.Of course, this lets us take a look at NTT vs its competitors KDDI and Softbank Corp yet again, and compare the impact on the market of the various buyback programs in place.More below the fold.

NTT Buybacks Continue - Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger

Equity Bottom-Up

NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) / Equity Bottom-Up

NTT posted mixed Q1 results with better revenue but a modest miss on profitability. Top-line growth was helped by demand for telework (local exchange businesses) and a rebound in international sales (NTT Data / NTT Ltd) whilst higher mobile investment impacted operating profit. Of more interest to shareholders, management confirmed it would buy back up to ¥250bn of its own shares, better than the ¥150bn we were expecting, with a very modest increase in its FY21 EPS target as a result (¥300 to ¥302). NTT continues to trade at attractive multiples versus peers even as underlying operational performance improves. We remain at Buy.

NTT posted mixed Q1 results with better revenue but a modest miss on profitability. Top-line growth was helped by demand for telework (local exchange businesses) and a rebound in international sales (NTT Data / NTT Ltd) whilst higher mobile investment impacted operating profit. Of more interest to shareholders, management confirmed it would buy back up to ¥250bn of its own shares, better than the ¥150bn we were expecting, with a very modest increase in its FY21 EPS target as a result (¥300 to ¥302). NTT continues to trade at attractive multiples versus peers even as underlying operational performance improves. We remain at Buy.

NTT (Buy) - Q1 21 Results Reaction: Buyback Confirmed

NTT senior management will not attend the Olympic opening ceremonies and with consumer-linked product demonstrations less relevant with no spectators, NTT’s promotional activity is winding down. On balance, Olympic sponsorship does not impact the valuation or investment case – any PR spend here would have went elsewhere – but we did enjoy following their participation in the torch relay on Twitter and their 2020 Olympic website is worth a look. We have tweaked our forecasts for FY21 based on management Q4 guidance and we remain at Buy with a ¥3,600 FY21-end target price.

NTT senior management will not attend the Olympic opening ceremonies and with consumer-linked product demonstrations less relevant with no spectators, NTT’s promotional activity is winding down. On balance, Olympic sponsorship does not impact the valuation or investment case – any PR spend here would have went elsewhere – but we did enjoy following their participation in the torch relay on Twitter and their 2020 Olympic website is worth a look. We have tweaked our forecasts for FY21 based on management Q4 guidance and we remain at Buy with a ¥3,600 FY21-end target price.   

NTT (Buy) - Olympic Promotions Almost Over; Meanwhile We Have Updated Numbers

Japan

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation provides a variety of telecommunication services, including telephone, telegraph, leased circuits, data communication, terminal equipment sales, and related services. The Company provides both local and long distance telephone services within Japan.

NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) (9432 JP)

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) (9432 JP)

Japan Telecoms - Surprise Resignation of the Prime Minister Should Ease Regulatory Pressure

The telecom sector wins with political change. Mobile price cuts were one of the few policy successes for this PM and record low approval meant a...

Kirk Boodry

Last Week in Event SPACE: SOHO China, Evergrande, Kerry Logistics, Milton, CBA, NTT

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a coffee, grab a comfortable seat, and sift through a brief summary of insights on various events discussed...

David Blennerhassett

NTT Buybacks Continue - Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger

NTT Announces good earnings and a big buyback. Buybacks are normal but this buyback is the new normal, delivering NTT Docomo's earnings to NTT...

Travis Lundy

NTT (Buy) - Q1 21 Results Reaction: Buyback Confirmed

NTT posted mixed Q1 results but operating trends remains solid (mobile parity, fixed-line growth) and confirmation of this year's buyback (¥250bn v...

Kirk Boodry

NTT (Buy) - Olympic Promotions Almost Over; Meanwhile We Have Updated Numbers

Despite being a top-tier sponsor, management will not attend the Olympic opening ceremonies but an Olympics-based ad campaign may still run....

Kirk Boodry

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)