Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Athaporn served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 22 years, of which 19 were in research and 9 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006.

Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also performs financial advisory services for TKC Services and provides 11 other on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely:

1) Snippets (news-driven);
2) Sathorn Series (financial services);
3) Silicon Stories (technology); 
4) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin series);
5) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative);
6) Thai Media Spotlight;
7) Political Pit Stop; 
8) Telecom Review; 
9) Thai Macro Watch (read-through from foreign events);  
10) Small Cap Diary; and
11) Property Grid

There are also 3 limited-time series driven by specific events or locations, namely:
1) Thai Corona Crisis;
2) South Series; and
3) Mechanics and Details (deal forensics).

The Week That Was in ASEAN@Smartkama - Asian Exports, Thai Media, and Philippine Banks

Thai Media Spotlight: Collapse or Redemption?

The NEW Week that Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Thailand'sToursim Dilemma, Thai Banks, and Wilmar's Stub

Thai Media Spotlight: An Early Quarter of Blockbusters

Telecom Review (Feb 2020): 5G Bidding, Apple Watch Surge

Silicon Stories G: Netflix's Uphill Battle in Thailand

Thai Media Spotlight: New Entrants and Departures

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Thailand Media / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>Thai cinemas reopened in June, but the pipeline no longer looks strong, being largely dominated by movie delays. The unfortunate problems of the cinema business is an opening for both free TV broadcasters and streaming services such as Netflix.</p><ul>
<li>Even then, Q4'20 could be a period for the pendulum to swing back in Major's (cinema) favor. Streaming services could run out of new content by September. New Thai dramas could run out even sooner. AIS Play and True ID will have even weaker pipelines than Netflix, but bear in mind that they are also much cheaper.</li>
<li>Consumer and business sentiments hit an all-time low during the pandemic, so recovery in H2'20 is inevitable for the whole sector. Media ad spend dropped 15% during the prior period.</li>
<li>The length of the lock-down affects Major more than other stocks. Basically, an entire quarter of revenues could disappear, since the lock-down lasted from late March to end of June. The second quarter, traditionally a high point for Thai cinemas, basically makes no money for 2020.</li>
</ul>

Thai cinemas reopened in June, but the pipeline no longer looks strong, being largely dominated by movie delays. The unfortunate problems of the cinema business is an opening for both free TV broadcasters and streaming services such as Netflix.
Even then, Q4'20 could be a period for the pendulum to swing back in Major's (cinema) favor. Streaming services could run out of new content by September. New Thai dramas could run out even sooner. AIS Play and True ID will have even weaker pipelines than Netflix, but bear in mind that they are also much cheaper.
Consumer and business sentiments hit an all-time low during the pandemic, so recovery in H2'20 is inevitable for the whole sector. Media ad spend dropped 15% during the prior period.
The length of the lock-down affects Major more than other stocks. Basically, an entire quarter of revenues could disappear, since the lock-down lasted from late March to end of June. The second quarter, traditionally a high point for Thai cinemas, basically makes no money for 2020.


Thai Media Spotlight: The Long Road to Sector Recovery