The stock price of Advanced Info Service Pcl., also known as AIS, rose further on Friday as investors weighed reports that Thailand’s largest telecoms group is considering options for its tower business, including a stake sale.
On Friday morning, shares of Advanced Info Service Pcl. (SET:ADVANC) rose 2.26%, or +THB4.50/share, to THB204.00, with a total trading value of THB1,791,000,000.
According to a Bloomberg report on Thursday, ADVANC has held talks with potential advisers for a strategic review of the assets. More importantly, the company noted that it is considering creating an infrastructure fund for the assets that could be listed in the Thai stock market.
Sources said that other telecommunication companies are showing interest in the assets that could be valued between $2 billion to $3 billion in transactions.
Still, the company has yet to make a final decision on the sales of its tower business as the sources noted that it could decide against the transaction as well.
Capital Nomura Securities said that the rise in the stock price could be attributed to investors’ anticipation of Bloomberg report that ADVANC is considering setting up an advisor to review plans to sell its telecom towers.
The analysts considered ADVANC’s plan to establish an infrastructure fund to be a step that has significance for the company’s future strategy, particularly with regards to maximizing the returns on already existing assets. The brokerage speculated that the cash raised would be utilized to launch and grow businesses of all kinds if they were invested in an infrastructure fund, which would help accelerate ADVANC’s growth.
ADVANC’s net profit in 4Q22 was THB7,363 million, a 7.3% rise over the 4Q21 net profit of THB6,863 million and a 22% increase over the third quarter. However, the net profit for the entire year of 2022 was THB26,011 million, representing a decline of 3.4% from the net profit of THB26,922 million recorded in 2021.
