StarHub barely hurt by BPL broadcast rights shift to Singtel

StarHub’s earnings could grow 2-6% qoq and 15-19% yoy, led by higher mobile and PayTV revenue on the back of the UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2012) in Jun.

According to CIMB, a 2Q12 net profit of S$90m-93m, up 2-6% qoq and 15-19% yoy, is expected from StarHub. This will be led by a 2-6% qoq or 15-19% yoy rise in revenue. Mobile revenues should grow sequentially, lifted by higher data take-up and wireless broadband. "We expect EBITDA margins to improve qoq from 29.9% in 1Q12 as handset subsidies for Androids would be lower than for iPhones and mcompetition was fairly benign."

Here's more from CIMB:

We expect a boost in PayTV revenues from Euro 2012 in Jun, as in 2Q10 when the 2010 World Cup was held. This time around, non-StarHub subscribers were able to watch the matches because of a “cross-carriage” rule that kicked in after the migration of broadcast rights for Barclays Premier League (BPL) from StarHub to SingTel in 2010.

We would also be on the lookout for:

Postpaid ARPU after its dip in 1Q12
Any updates on capital management
Any updates on the BPL auction
Take-up of fibre plans and strategies for penetrating the SME segment.