[ET Net News Agency, 2 February 2018] China Mobile (00941), China Telecom (00728) and
China Unicom (00762) announced downward adjustments in tower lease fees yesterday. Morgan
Stanley estimated that these adjustments will reduce tower lease fees by 3%, 13% and 15%
for towers with one, two and three tenants, respectively.
All else equal, this suggests a Rmb5bn EBITDA shift from towerco (12% of towerco's 2017
EBITDA) to telcos (1-2% of each of the telcos' 2017 EBITDA), although the actual impact
could be less as telcos may lease more towers after a reduction in lease fees, the
research house said.
Morgan believes the delay in towerco IPOs (previously planned for end-2017) was due in
part to renegotiation of lease fee; hence, the announcement the paves way for the
companies to resume the IPO process in 1H 2018. (KL)