Malaysia's Astro soars on debut
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuters) -- Shares of Malaysia's only pay-TV operator Astro rose as much as 23 percent in their trading debut Wednesday, after the company raised 2 billion ringgit ($526 million) in Southeast Asia's largest initial public offering this year.
Shares in Astro All Asia Networks are trading at 4.78 ringgit. That compares with an IPO price of 4.06 ringgit per share paid by institutional investors and 3.65 ringgit by retail buyers and company employees.
"The premium is a bit on the high side. Our house has a fair value of 4.20 ringgit. For the moment, I think it's capped at 5.00 ringgit," said Wan Ahmad Satria Wan Hussein, head of dealing for Mayban Securities.
Astro, controlled by one of Malaysia's richest men, Ananda Krishnan, has 1.1 million customers or 20 percent of the Malaysian television viewing market. It has a monopoly until 2017 to provide direct broadcast satellite TV services in the country.
"Based on our fair value of 4.70 ringgit, it's a good premium for retail investors. Its a good time for them to take profit," said OSK Securities senior analyst Pankaj Kumar.
The company, which made a pre-tax loss of 320 million ringgit in fiscal 2003, expects a net profit of up to 10.2 million ringgit, or 0.75 cents a share, for the year to January 31, 2004.
Some analysts expect it to show earnings per share of between 40 to 45 cents in fiscal 2005 -- valuing the company at about 10 times 2005 expected profit.
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