[ET Net News Agency, 23 April 2018] UBS Global Research cut its target price for China
Mobile (CM)(00941) to HK$92 from HK$99, and reiterated its "buy" rating.
After adopting new accounting policy (IFRS15), the research house said part of CM's
service revenue re-categorized as handset sales, while part of service revenue's
recognition delayed.
As a result, CM's service rev only increased 3.6% YoY in 1Q. Eliminating IFRS15's
impact, CM's service revenue increased 7% YoY in 1Q, which is basically in-line with UBS's
expectation.
UBS said CM's EBITDA/net profit increased 3.9%/4.1% YoY in 1Q, which is lower than its
estimate. UBS thinks it's mainly because the company spends more selling & marketing
expense on expanding fixedline broadband and emerging business. UBS has concerns the
cancellation of data roaming fee will slow down CM's service revenue growth. (KL)