Telco/Internet specialist

Kirk Boodry

Redex Research

Equity Bottom-Up

NTT DoCoMo posted results ahead of consensus expectations boosted by steady improvement in mobile service revenue and record profits in its non-telco Smart Life business. The solid quarter provides some relief for parent NTT which is buying in minority shareholders at a premium although concerns on whether DoCoMo will need to aggressively respond to pressure for price reductions will linger.  Continued low churn rates read positively across to fellow incumbents Softbank and KDDI but less so for Rakuten whose impact on the industry has been muted so far.

NTT DoCoMo posted results ahead of consensus expectations boosted by steady improvement in mobile service revenue and record profits in its non-telco Smart Life business. The solid quarter provides some relief for parent NTT which is buying in minority shareholders at a premium although concerns on whether DoCoMo will need to aggressively respond to pressure for price reductions will linger.  Continued low churn rates read positively across to fellow incumbents Softbank and KDDI but less so for Rakuten whose impact on the industry has been muted so far.  

NTT DoCoMo Q2 20 Results: Last Public Report Ends on a Relative High Note

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC, the regulator) should announce policy changes by the end of the month that make it easier for users to switch mobile carriers. That probably leads to modestly higher customer churn although service bundles/loyalty plans mute the impact. It is also an implicit recognition that the lower pricing levels found at MVNOs and Rakuten are acceptable and that improving the ability to change carriers is what is important. As a result, greater clarity on regulator intensions and near-term price reductions led by Softbank should be enough to ease recent political/regulatory pressure. A proposal to move to eSIMs is of special benefit to Rakuten which developed its provisioning systems with technologies like that in mind.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC, the regulator) should announce policy changes by the end of the month that make it easier for users to switch mobile carriers. That probably leads to modestly higher customer churn although service bundles/loyalty plans mute the impact. It is also an implicit recognition that the lower pricing levels found at MVNOs and Rakuten are acceptable and that improving the ability to change carriers is what is important. As a result, greater clarity on regulator intensions and near-term price reductions led by Softbank should be enough to ease recent political/regulatory pressure. A proposal to move to eSIMs is of special benefit to Rakuten which developed its provisioning systems with technologies like that in mind.  

Japan Telecom Sector: Regulator Policy Changes Address Tactics Not Price

Regulatory concerns in Japan have returned as the new Prime Minister has made mobile pricing a key talking point. And it now appears likely that Softbank will carve out a new 20-30GB data tier at ¥5,000/month to address that. We expect that DoCoMo and KDDI (to a lesser degree) will have to follow. NTT is the most exposed as DoCoMo was late to the game in moving up to offering extra-large data bundles and its Gigaho 30GB plan is priced at ¥7,150/month. On the surface, this move gives the Prime Minister a win and should ease regulatory pressure and whilst mobile revenue erosion will accelerate, tiered pricing should help manage the downside. The main issue heading into reporting season is how much of a return to customers this is and whether the political and regulatory pressure will ease.

Regulatory concerns in Japan have returned as the new Prime Minister has made mobile pricing a key talking point. And it now appears likely that Softbank will carve out a new 20-30GB data tier at ¥5,000/month to address that. We expect that DoCoMo and KDDI (to a lesser degree) will have to follow. NTT is the most exposed as DoCoMo was late to the game in moving up to offering extra-large data bundles and its Gigaho 30GB plan is priced at ¥7,150/month. On the surface, this move gives the Prime Minister a win and should ease regulatory pressure and whilst mobile revenue erosion will accelerate, tiered pricing should help manage the downside. The main issue heading into reporting season is how much of a return to customers this is and whether the political and regulatory pressure will ease. 

Japan Telecom Sector: Softbank Moves First on Pricing

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas is famous for one poem in particular - one called "Do not go gentle into that good night." It is a great poem, and I can always spare a brief moment to <a href="https://poets.org/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night" target="_blank" rel="noopener">re-read it</a>. It starts...Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.This deal, and the accompanying <a href="https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2020/pdf/english_news_release_200929_02.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documentation</a> (and Nikkei article <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/NTT-to-take-over-wireless-unit-Docomo-for-38bn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">updates</a>) tell you NTT is not going gentle.An unkind interpretation might use a later stanza to point out that "grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight, Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay" may produce a last gasp cascade of brilliance, but here the strategic rationale notes, and accompanying management actions are putting the world on notice.We're not going gentle.<hr>This morning, exactly eight hours after the Nikkei published articles in <a href="https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO64352350Y0A920C2MM8000/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Japanese</a> and <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/NTT-to-take-over-wireless-unit-Docomo-for-38bn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">English</a> that <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nippon-telegraph-telephone-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:623:1" rel="noopener">NTT (Nippon Telegraph &amp; Telephone) (9432 JP)</a> would soon launch a Tender Offer to buy out the minority shareholders of its mobile telephony subsidiary and largest mobile phone operator in Japan by subscriber count <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ntt-docomo-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1089:1" rel="noopener">NTT Docomo Inc (9437 JP)</a>, NTT made a short release to the exchange saying that nothing had yet been decided regarding the subject "NTT to make DoCoMo a wholly-owned subsidiary" but that NTT would hold a board meeting that day to discuss the matter and if an announcement were warranted, there would be one."Nothing has been decided" in Japan Corporate-Speak specifically meant that the board had not resolved the matter at a board meeting. Sure enough, after the close, and after a day when the shares were pegged at limit-up all day long and the gray market traded ¥3450-3500 during that time, after the close NTT and NTT Docomo announced that NTT would conduct a Tender Offer to buy out minorities at ¥3900/share, which is a 40.5% premium to the undisturbed price.Given the ownership circumstances and the trading prices of other telecom stocks out there, this is a Very High Price Indeed.Interestingly, there is more than a hint of frustration shown by NTT in the Management Policy After the Tender Offer section of the document (so far only available in the DoCoMo Opinion <a href="https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2020/pdf/english_news_release_200929_02.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a>) and in the separate document outlining several management changes to be made 1 December (i.e. 1 week after settlement of the Tender Offer). That includes the NTT DoCoMo CEO Yoshizawa who will resign his board seat, and his roles as CEO and President. That is a wow. He will be replaced by Motoyuki Ii. There will be one more Representative Director added, and two more EVPs elevated to fill the vacuum (both internal). There is considerable explanation about their plans in that doc. For anyone curious about what happens to NTT next, it is well worth a read. They plan on going big in B2B2X with integrated mobile solutions, targeting corporates and local governments. It appears they are going to do more to make dbarai (DoCoMo's cashless payment solution) scaled bigger. Done right, this could both substantially lower costs and could make a much higher throughput system. Consumer mobile effectively takes a back seat. There is more strategic information here than one normally gets. One would normally look at <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ntt-data-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11232:1" rel="noopener">NTT Data Corp (9613 JP)</a> but I think it is a bit early for that. NTT Data may benefit from dev work, but this is an NTT-DoCoMo deal to start. It may be too early to judge exactly whether NTT will adequately monetize the extra generosity it is showing in buying out DoCoMo at ¥3900/share, but it appears they will not go gently into that good night.As always, more below the fold.

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas is famous for one poem in particular - one called "Do not go gentle into that good night." It is a great poem, and I can always spare a brief moment to re-read it. It starts...Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.This deal, and the accompanying documentation (and Nikkei article updates) tell you NTT is not going gentle.An unkind interpretation might use a later stanza to point out that "grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight, Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay" may produce a last gasp cascade of brilliance, but here the strategic rationale notes, and accompanying management actions are putting the world on notice.We're not going gentle.This morning, exactly eight hours after the Nikkei published articles in Japanese and English that NTT (Nippon Telegraph &amp; Telephone) (9432 JP) would soon launch a Tender Offer to buy out the minority shareholders of its mobile telephony subsidiary and largest mobile phone operator in Japan by subscriber count NTT Docomo Inc (9437 JP), NTT made a short release to the exchange saying that nothing had yet been decided regarding the subject "NTT to make DoCoMo a wholly-owned subsidiary" but that NTT would hold a board meeting that day to discuss the matter and if an announcement were warranted, there would be one."Nothing has been decided" in Japan Corporate-Speak specifically meant that the board had not resolved the matter at a board meeting. Sure enough, after the close, and after a day when the shares were pegged at limit-up all day long and the gray market traded ¥3450-3500 during that time, after the close NTT and NTT Docomo announced that NTT would conduct a Tender Offer to buy out minorities at ¥3900/share, which is a 40.5% premium to the undisturbed price.Given the ownership circumstances and the trading prices of other telecom stocks out there, this is a Very High Price Indeed.Interestingly, there is more than a hint of frustration shown by NTT in the Management Policy After the Tender Offer section of the document (so far only available in the DoCoMo Opinion document) and in the separate document outlining several management changes to be made 1 December (i.e. 1 week after settlement of the Tender Offer). That includes the NTT DoCoMo CEO Yoshizawa who will resign his board seat, and his roles as CEO and President. That is a wow. He will be replaced by Motoyuki Ii. There will be one more Representative Director added, and two more EVPs elevated to fill the vacuum (both internal). There is considerable explanation about their plans in that doc. For anyone curious about what happens to NTT next, it is well worth a read. They plan on going big in B2B2X with integrated mobile solutions, targeting corporates and local governments. It appears they are going to do more to make dbarai (DoCoMo's cashless payment solution) scaled bigger. Done right, this could both substantially lower costs and could make a much higher throughput system. Consumer mobile effectively takes a back seat. There is more strategic information here than one normally gets. One would normally look at NTT Data Corp (9613 JP) but I think it is a bit early for that. NTT Data may benefit from dev work, but this is an NTT-DoCoMo deal to start. It may be too early to judge exactly whether NTT will adequately monetize the extra generosity it is showing in buying out DoCoMo at ¥3900/share, but it appears they will not go gently into that good night.As always, more below the fold. 

NTT Deal for DoCoMo - Not Going Gentle, Definitely Raging Against the Dying of the Light

Japan/Asia Long-Short, LightStream Research

Mio Kato

Japan/Asia Long-Short

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) / Event-Driven

The explanation supporting NTT’s buyout of Docomo (in Japanese but translated below) is interesting and we believe it supports our initial thoughts on this development. What we didn’t expect was a ¥3,900 tender price.

The explanation supporting NTT’s buyout of Docomo (in Japanese but translated below) is interesting and we believe it supports our initial thoughts on this development. What we didn’t expect was a ¥3,900 tender price.

NTT – NTT Is Going Big and Our Suspicions Are Aroused Further

Japan

KDDI CORPORATION provides mobile communication services and sells mobile devices.  The Company also is a broadband provider.

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KDDI Corp (9433 JP)

NTT DoCoMo Q2 20 Results: Last Public Report Ends on a Relative High Note

DoCoMo results were ahead of expectations in its last report as a public company. That's good for NTT and there is a positive read across to...

Kirk Boodry

Japan Telecom Sector: Regulator Policy Changes Address Tactics Not Price

The regulatory is expected to announce policy updates that address how users change to cheaper priced options. Churn could rise but service bundles...

Kirk Boodry

Japan Telecom Sector: Softbank Moves First on Pricing

Softbank's response to regulatory pressure should be enough if sector follows suit. NTT is most exposed after announcing a premium bid for DoCoMo

Kirk Boodry

NTT Deal for DoCoMo - Not Going Gentle, Definitely Raging Against the Dying of the Light

This morning, exactly eight hours after the Nikk

Travis Lundy

NTT – NTT Is Going Big and Our Suspicions Are Aroused Further

The explanation supporting NTT’s buyout of Docomo (in Japanese but translated below) is interesting and we believe it supports our initial thoughts...

Mio Kato

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