BTS Group Holdings Public Company Limited (BTS) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary
June 2, 2022
Earnings Call Speaker Segments
Operator
operatorGood afternoon, analysts and fund managers, and welcome to the BTS Group and BTSGIF's Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Analyst Meeting. My name is Cassada, and I will be your moderator during this presentation. [Operator Instructions] As usual, we are honored to welcome our management team, starting from [indiscernible] of BTSC; Mr. Chi Keung Kong, Deputy CEO of BTS Group.
Chi Keung Kong
executive[Foreign Language]
Operator
operatorMr. Surayut, CFO of BTS Group.
Surayut Thavikulwat
executive[Foreign Language]
Operator
operatorMr. Daniel, CIO of BTS Group.
Daniel Ross
executive[Foreign Language]
Operator
operatorMs. Chawadee, Financial Controller of BTS Group.
Chawadee Rungruang
executive[Foreign Language]
Operator
operatorMs. Siriphen, Fund Manager of BTSGIF.
Siriphen Wangdumrongves
executive[Foreign Language]
Operator
operatorMs. [ Suraya ] Acting Deputy CEO and CFO of U City. And lastly, the IR team from BTS Group, [ BTI ], MACO and U City. For now, I would like to hand over to Mr. Daniel to recap on this fiscal year's overview and financial performance. Thank you.
Daniel Ross
executiveThank you, [indiscernible]. Let's start off with the full-year year-end review of our 3M strategy slide. COVID continues to leave its mark on the fiscal year. And in many ways, it's actually more pronounced than the previous year. That said, we've had a lot of positive developments. On the MOVE side, the Pink and the Yellow Line, construction progress reached 90% completion. That's expected to be fully operated in 2023. And on the non-rail side, we've seen good progress on the design and planning of U-Tapao International Airport. Intercity Motorways also make great grounds with construction signing as well as construction commencement in the past fiscal year. And generally speaking, great progress. Obviously, the COVID severely impacted ridership on an ongoing basis and impairs the equity income of BTSGIF. We also had some political circumstances, which delay, let's say, the anticipation of certain new projects. However, our O&M revenue was quite resilient at 18% year-on-year growth. So that's a little summary of the MOVE side. On the MIX side, expansion in our distribution network through VGI's mergers and acquisitions activity, including a 51% acquisition of Fanslink, a 15% investment in Jaymart and our deal soon to be concluded or within the second half of 60% in NINE. VGI strengthened its capital base, had a rights offering, which was fully subscribed, generating THB 13 billion fund for the Group. And on the data and reach side as well, we saw great strength with a 14% increase in the unique audience that the company -- the Group is now able to reach. Once again, in the background, COVID severely impacted the media operations arguably more significant than the rail operations. And there was also difficulties in terms of KERRY, the associate company, who is forced into getting into a price war with competitors. On the MATCH side, partnerships gathered a pace with 3 partnerships signed in the year, one with YGG in the gaming industry, another with AEON and Humanica on welfare loans and more recently, an investment of 25% into TBN Software, which is an up-and-coming low-code development platform company. On the U City side, which is one of our key investments on the MATCH side, we saw post the capital strengthening, a great progress on the transformation of financial services, with a 25% investment in Singer, a 10% investment in Jaymart and also a 75% in (A LIFE) Rabbit Life on the insurance side. So that's a little flavor of what happened during the year. Now skipping to the financial highlights. On the P&L side, you'll see a downward trend across the revenue, EBITDA and net profit measures. Again, that's somewhat to be expected in the light of COVID. In fact, if you look at ridership and out-of-home revenue for last fiscal year, still remains only around 50% of pre-COVID levels. So considering that, it's actually a pretty good set of results under the circumstances. Margin did expand. We'll go into the details for that later. Balance sheet still remains very strong, with cash and liquid investments at THB 19.2 billion, and leverage remains low at 1.46x net D/E ratio. The cash flow was characterized largely by investments in long-term contracts as well as the 3M strategy expansion by the investments in U City and also in Jaymart. So overall, liquidity remains strong. The company has got good access to the funding markets, and we're still able to pay generous -- a good dividend to our shareholders as well. Skipping on to sustainability, overviewing our BTS Group, upholds the 3 tenants of sustainability, environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. On the environmental side, we focus on decarbonization. So as you all know, environment -- expansion of electric rail and non-rail transport reduces carbon emissions massively. And the transport sector's emissions will be one of the key sectors, which have time to reach its goals under the Paris Agreement. We, as a company, remain carbon-neutral. And we also have committed now to source at least 10% of our electricity consumption from renewable sources. On the economic sustainability side. Apart from investing in developing in long-term business models, we also give access to ESG investors to participate. And in this year, we raised over THB 21 billion in funding through sustainable financing. On the social side, our infrastructure development increases accessibility and mobility, which benefits both individuals as well as businesses. And at the corporate level, we also focus on improving our ability to build a diverse and inclusive workforce. Some of the accolades that you can see on the right, still carbon neutral. Well, I guess one of the newer ones is that FT Climate Leaders, which you see there. We're now one of only 200 companies globally and only one of six in Thailand to get such award. Now skipping over to the overview of the financials. Just run through this quickly. Operating revenue of THB 25.8 billion, so that's a 26% decline year-on-year. And you can see in the pipe -- in the column chart in the bottom right-hand corner, that is mostly attributable to the MOVE business. Recurring EBITDA, THB 8.1 billion. So still a healthy level of EBITDA but down 8% year-on-year, much less pronounced than the decline in revenue, and net income of THB 3.8 billion, a 16% decline. Margins increased across the board, a lower proportion of the construction and the lower margin construction revenue, which left us operating revenue breakdown of 81% from MOVE, 17% from MIX and 2% MATCH. On to the cash flow. Again, you can see visually from that, we started at THB 3.8 billion and start -- ended up with about THB 4.09 billion in terms of cash flow, an increase in the cash position. Most prominent is the green column, which is cash flow from financing, around about THB 34-or-so billion, where we're raising money from financial institutions, long-term debentures, about THB 10 billion. And we also paid a dividend of THB 4 billion. On the investment side, as I mentioned, early investing into the MATCH businesses, whether it's the subscriptions to new cities are -- and also the investment in Jaymart. We also, obviously, continue to invest in the rail transit with the Pink and Yellow Lines of THB 8 billion. Cash flow from operations, negative THB 15 billion. And as usual, that excludes some investments, which are all detailed below, leaving us with THB 4 billion in cash and 19.2 cash and liquid investments. For the business unit updates, now let me hand over to [indiscernible].
Unknown Executive
executiveThank you, Khun Daniel. So now we move to segmental performance. I'm starting with MOVE business. So we reported MOVE operating revenue of THB 20.8 billion, a decrease of 34% year-on-year. This is a change of THB 11 billion and was due to three primary reasons. Number one, lower construction revenue for Pink and Yellow Lines of THB 5.5 billion, resulting from the construction delays caused by major controlling the spread of COVID-19. Second, a lower service income for the provision of E&M and train procurement for Green Line extensions of THB 5.3 billion as we entered the tail end of the development. And lastly, an increase in O&M revenue of THB 1 billion, an increase of 18% year-on-year to the level of THB 6.3 billion. And this is due to two reasons: one, a full-year recognition of an operating of the Northern Green Line extension for Mo Chit [indiscernible] in 2020; and the contractually agreed increase in operating fee of the Green Line extension. And as a result, we experienced changes in our revenue contribution from the past 2 years. The revenue contribution from the development of new Green Lines now contributes [ 70% ] of the level of the 90%, and O&M revenue contribute 30%. And that gave the reported gross profit of THB 4.8 billion, decreased 9% year-on-year, resulting gross profit margin of 23%. We also recognized a share of loss on investment in BTSGIF of THB 29 million, resulting from the [indiscernible] in which we will discuss in more details later on in this presentation. Now moving on to MIX business. We reported MIX operating revenue of THB 4.3 billion, increasing 64% year-on-year, mainly from an 8-month consolidation of Fanslink, VGI subsidiary. So in fiscal year 2021 and '22, VGI successfully established the largest [ store ] of its online-to-offline solution, the Distribution business. And now VGI operates with a fully integrated platform, comprises advertising, payment and distribution. For the Out-of-Home, advertising revenue increased by 0.5% year-on-year and as a result of a slight increase in the street furniture business. And Digital Services revenue increased 23% year-on-year due to the growth in Rabbit Care. And as a result, our Out-of-Home media contributed 36%, Digital Services contributed 29% and the newly added Distribution business contributed 35% to the overall operating revenue of THB 4.3 billion. And that gives the gross profit margin -- sorry, gross profit of THB 1 billion, and that turned gross profit margin positive of 24%. Last but not least, our MATCH business report the operating revenue of THB 652 million, decreasing 29% year-on-year. And this is due to the two reasons: one is a lower construction revenue from HHT Construction Company of THB 271 million and partially offset by a share of profit from investments in U City, our associate, of THB 220 million. This figure compared to the share of loss of over THB 2 billion in the previous year. Now moving on to the financial position. As of 31st of March 2022, we have seen that our assets expand 21% to THB 256 billion. We expect also enhance the current ratio to 0.49x. Looking at the other side of the balance sheet, we have seen that the adjusted net debt also expands from THB 97 billion to THB 132 billion, an increase of 36%, and that gives adjusted net debt to equity of 1.46x, still under an appropriate range and indicate a strong liquidity position to service our debt in both short term and long term. Now, I'd like to pass it on to my colleague, Khun [indiscernible] to talk more about the Group business update. Over to you, Khun [indiscernible].
Unknown Executive
executiveThank you, Khun [indiscernible]. So for the BTS Group update, on the 6th of May 2022, the company successfully launched its very first sustainability-linked bonds. Following the tremendous success of our two Green Bond issuances, BTS Group has planned to share the launch of its very first sustainability-linked bonds accumulating an oversubscription of 1.67x, resorting the company to exercise a green option, bringing the total amount to THB 11 billion. The bonds were rated A by TRIS Rating Company Limited and are issued in 4 tranches on the table on your right-hand side, with an average coupon rate of 3.99%, and proceeds will be used for debt refinancing. This issuance has BTS Group as the first and only Thai corporate to release both SLB and Green bonds, advertising on the company's commitment towards sustainability financing. Over to the MOVE updates for our Pink and Yellow Lines. As of May 2022, the Pink Line operations running from [indiscernible] all the way to [indiscernible] is currently at 87% near completion. As for our Yellow Line operations running from [indiscernible] all the way to [indiscernible] station, is currently at 92% near completion. We can expect full operations from both of these lines within the next year in 2023. Heading over to the non-rail Intercity Motorway Projects. Let me just revisit our timeline once again. On 29th September 2021, BGSR, the joint venture formed, where BTS Group holds 40% shares, has entered in a 30-year PPP agreement with the Department of Highway with the two Intercity Motorway Projects of M6 and M81, where the contract was signed. Following that timeline, the construction commenced at the beginning of this year in January 11, 2022. You can expect the commercial operations to begin within 2025, 3 years from now. And that concludes the MOVE updates segment. Now, I would like to hand over to Ms. Nantarach for the MIX update segment. Over to you, and thank you.
Nantarach Atthawong
executiveThank you, [indiscernible]. For MIX business update, the COVID-19 pandemic still negatively impacted both the business and the public. Despite unfavorable outlook, VGI continued to seek new business opportunities that provide strong growth potentials to help the company cope with the changing market trends. So during the past year, VGI has successfully expanded its businesses into a distribution business through the strategic investment in diverse companies. So our business platform has shifted from advertising, payment and logistic to advertising, payment and distribution platforms. With the complete ecosystem, VGI is able to provide more comprehensive O2O marketing solutions. Although the pandemic still influence advertising industry, our Out-of-Home media still continue to create massive [indiscernible] with our strategic partners like MACO and Plan B. For the next slide, it's about the payment business. So starting with Rabbit Cash, successfully obtained the lending business license, which included nano-financing and personal loan license from the Bank of Thailand in May 2022. So recently, Rabbit Cash did a pilot launch of Rabbit Cash application on mobile phone to offer a seamless digital lending services. Meanwhile, Rapid Care also continue to increase insurance and financial products with over 70 partners and develop its services in both categories, life and non-life insurance. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rabbit Care has launched many campaigns and promotions in order to support and respond to customers' needs. For example, a Buy-Now-Pay-Later campaign that allowing customers to purchase with an installment plan of 0% interest up to 10 months. And it also launched the credit card comparison function on its website. All of this will help Rapid Care will reach a broader customer and will lead Rabbit Care to become the #1 insurance brokerage in Thailand. And for the Rabbit Card and Rabbit LinePay, also continue to grow its user base through an expansion of usage nationwide as well as an embedding Rabbit Card and Rabbit LinePay in available e-commerce platforms. Currently, the number of Rabbit Card reached 15 million cards, with an increase of 5.4% year-on-year. And Rabbit LinePay users increased to 9.5 million users, with an increase of 15.8% year-on-year. Moving to the next slide. So it's about distribution business. As I mentioned that the company successfully expanded its business into distribution business. VGI marked the first step through an investment of 51% stake in Fanslink Communication Company, who is an omnichannel distribution service provider and a leading brand management for Chinese brands. After the acquisition, Fanslink made a pilot launch of Rabbit Selection mobile application, which applies the cutting-edge technology to deliver well-designed products with good quality at reasonable prices. Moreover, we made a further step by investing 15% in Jaymart Company, which will allow us to explore potential synergies in distribution business as well as to expand Fanslink distribution network across Jaymart and single nationwide network. After the two transactions, we made another landmark transaction, according to the approval from VGI Board of Directors, to spin off the lease rights to manage the commercial spaces on the BTS network through an investment of 60% in Nation International [ Edutainment ] Public Company Limited online in March 2022. Through NINE, we will utilize the premium commercial spaces with our O2O marketing solutions to showcase brands product and provide conversion [ pipe ] for BTS passengers. Moreover, this strategy will provide a greater insights, consumers' preference, which enable the brands to precisely offer products to direct customers. We also believe that this transaction cemented the last piece of VGI's O2O marketing solution [indiscernible]. And next slide, I would like to give you a quick update on VGI capital activities. VGI successfully responded through direct offering at a total value of THB 12,917 million, with nearly issuing ordinary shares of 2,583.3 million shares. As a result, the company's total shares increased to 11,195 million shares from 8,611 million shares. Following to our use of [ project ] plan, we have already used for debt repayment of THB 8,310 (sic) [ 8,130 ] million and will use for an investment in line of THB 3,147 million within this month. In addition, VGI-W3 has started to be traded on 27th May 2022 and warrant exercisable for a period of 5 years from the issuance date. And it's all of our MIX business update. Next, let me hand over back to Mr. [indiscernible] for U City business update. Thank you.
Unknown Executive
executiveThank you, Ms. Nantarach. So for the MATCH update, moving into the business update, U City is transitioning into the financial services industry as it sees higher return on equity and more resiliency, compared to its previous business in the real estate sector. Moreover, it can capitalize off of BTS Group's 3M strategy to create synergies as part of the MATCH segment. Its first step into the financial services included investments in Rabbit Life or formerly known as A LIFE, an insurance company; investments in Jaymart, a holding company engaged in retail consumer, finance and new technology business; Singer, a higher purchase financing services provider. In the insurance business, U City invested 75% in A LIFE, now known as Rabbit Life Insurance, which conducts businesses in insurance and mutual funds. Further to this, the Thai life insurance market is expected to double from THB 614 million to THB 1.2 billion within the following years. Rabbit Life expects to cease 5% of the Thai life insurance market share in the next 3 years. Next, the insurance business revenue breakdown. Within this segment in the first quarter, U City recorded an insurance revenue of THB 287 million, 80% of that accounted from the premium earned, while the 20% remaining came from the investment income. The bar chart on your right side -- far right-hand side indicate the breakdown by channel segment, which 56% of the premium earned was accumulated from the wealth channel, followed by telemarketing of 42%, combining that to make 98% in total where the majority of the revenue stream is derived from. In addition, U City also aims to enter the sale of life insurance through banks or bancassurance. In terms of investment income on the far left side, the pink bar graph, the income breakdown on the bottom left, you will see that the major contribution was generated from interest income amounting to THB 57 million. Comparing the CAR ratio or the capital adequacy ratio of the company, this is calculated by the capital availability divided by total capital required, in the first quarter of 2022, the CAR ratio of Rabbit Life was 312%. If we compare this to the top 10 insurance companies as below, based on 3Q 2021 figures, we rank at the eighth place, showing a strong capital adequacy amongst the top 10 players in this insurance market. In December -- moving on to the financial services of U City. In December 2021, U City invested 9.9% in Jaymart and 24.9% in Singer to capture opportunities within the financial services market. On your right-hand side, you'll see the Singer's net profit. In the first quarter of 2022, Singer recorded a net profit of THB 215 million, whereby U City, which holds Singer 24.9%, recognized the share of profit from its investments in Singer following its shareholding. For the Jaymart and Singer's dividend payment, in the second quarter of 2022, U City expects to receive the total dividend income from both Jaymart and Singer, totaling to THB 253 million. On your right-hand side, for Jaymart and Singer's price performance, this indicates the unrealized gains as of May 12, 2022 from Jaymart at THB 2.8 billion and Singer at THB 2.1 billion, bringing the total amount of unrealized gains from investments to THB 5 billion. Moving on to recap BTS Group's financial 2022 and '23 guidance. For the MOVE segment, the O&M revenue that we expect to receive, will amount to THB 6.7 billion, increasing by 6% year-over-year. Following that, we expect a decrease in the construction revenue of the Pink and Yellow Lines, amounting to THB 5 billion to THB 6 billion as we approach the completion of both lines. The interest income is expected to generate THB 3.8 billion, increasing by 13% year-over-year, and the CapEx will amount to approximately THB 5 billion to THB 6 billion. Moving to the next segment. VGI's revenue is expected to generate between THB 6.5 billion to THB 7 billion, with the NPAT margin to grow by more than 10% as VGI [indiscernible] within their advertising sector. The EBITDA margin is also expected to grow more than 20%. And for VGI's CapEx, this would amount to THB 700 million. Now I would like to hand over to Ms. Siriphen, who will take you through the BTSGIF's yearly performance. Thank you.
Siriphen Wangdumrongves
executiveThank you so much, Khun [indiscernible]. Good afternoon, everybody. Today, I will present the financial performance of BTSGIF for fiscal year 2021/'22. May I skip the financial performance for the fourth quarter, but you can see the details in the slide. For 12-month fiscal year 2021/'22, total income of the fund was THB 945 million, down 55% year-on-year from the decrease in income from investment in NRTA. Total expenses of the fund were THB [ 70 ] million, down 6.9% year-on-year, mainly from lower fund management fee, but were partially offset by asset and personal expenses. Net investment income was THB 875 million, down 57% year-on-year. The [ fund ] recorded loss on investment of THB [ 6 billion ] from the devaluation in the fair value of the investment in NRTA by THB 6 billion. This valuation will [ feel ] the impact from the new wave of COVID-19. It also included the update of other assumption to correspond to current economic condition and situation. Changes in net asset resulting from operation were minus THB 5.2 billion. May I skip the fourth quarter performance and go to the next slide, fiscal year 2021/'22 income from investment in NRTA. Okay. For the full year, fiscal year '21/'22, [indiscernible] was THB 2.4 billion, [ decreasing ] 35.7% year-on-year from the decrease in ridership by 40.6% year-on-year to 74 million [indiscernible] from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic situation but was partially offset by the increase in [indiscernible] by 8.3% year-on-year to 32.2 [indiscernible] primarily result from the termination of [indiscernible] issue on September 30, 2021. O&M costs were THB 1.4 billion, decreasing 10% year-on-year, mainly from, first, lower CapEx. There is no significant CapEx this year; second, lower employee expenses from lower allocation costs from the full opening of Green Line extension and lower compensation for the timing; and third, lower utility expenses from lower [ security ] expense and lower electricity expense due to lower operating [indiscernible]. Income from investment in NRTA was THB 943 million, down 55% year-on-year. Now let's move to the balance sheet. As of 31st of March '22, total assets of the fund were THB [ 39.4 billion ]. The main company annual investment in NRTA of THB 38.7 million, decreased THB 6 million from 31st December 2021. Total liability was THB 35 million. Net asset value was THB 39.3 million, equivalent to THB [ 6.7981 ] per unit. As of 31st of March '22, the fund had deposit of THB [ 16 billion ]. Now let's move to the [indiscernible] performance. May I skip the fourth quarter '21/'22 performance and move to fiscal year '21/'22 [indiscernible] performance. For fiscal year '21/'22 ] was 74.2 million trips, down 40.6% year-on-year, primarily resulting from the new wave of COVID-19 situation since April 2021. [indiscernible] [ weekdayless ] ridership was 231,000 trips, down 43.5% year-on-year. Evening fare was THB 32.2 per trip, increasing 8.3% year-on-year, primarily from the termination of [indiscernible] issue on September 30, 2021. They are still launching new promotion to offer special privilege to the Rabbit reward loyalty program. Now let's move to the distribution. For the distribution, the fund announced the capital return for the fourth quarter of THB 0.062 per unit. [indiscernible] is on June 13, '22, and payment date is on June 27, '22. Total distribution to unitholders in fiscal year '21/'22 is THB 0.151 per unit. Total distribution since inception is THB 5.65 per unit in the form of dividend of THB 4.3 per unit and capital return of [ THB 1.3 ] per unit. Now let's move to the [indiscernible] report. Yes. On -- for the historical key factor in valuation report. For this one, this slide summarize key factor that we see in the valuation report among March '21, December '21 and March '22 report. Key factor that was seen in March '22 report will first impact from COVID-19 [indiscernible] Omicron for fiscal year '22/'23 a subsequent year. Second, [indiscernible] increase in April '23 versus in April '22 in the previous report. The lower economic quarterly [indiscernible] asset inflation in '21 and '22 relay in the implementation of the [indiscernible] by 1 year from '24 to '25. Since there is the new [indiscernible] scheme, thus far increase. However, that we repay cost for [indiscernible] that are given to passenger. [ 7 discounted ] is increased from 5.65% to 6%. Next slide show the effect between current report and previous report. Next slide, please. For -- in summary, valuation as of 31st of March '22 was THB [ 38.7 billion ], decreasing from THB [ 44.8 billion ] as of 31st of December 2021 by THB [ 6.1 billion ] from first, a decrease in [indiscernible] value of revenue of THB [ 3.2 billion ], which resulted from the impact of COVID-19 outbreak [indiscernible] increase changes in GDP from 2021 onwards and other factor. Second, an increase in [indiscernible] value of [indiscernible] by THB 2.4 [ million ], mainly due to the [indiscernible] cost for new [indiscernible] scheme. Third, an increase in this [indiscernible] from 5.65% to 6%, valuation decreased THB 0.6 billion, but was partially offset by the impact of short-term concession period. Valuation increased THB [ 0.2 ] billion due to [indiscernible] of remaining [indiscernible], increased higher than the absent of fourth quarter '21/'22 cash flow. The remaining slides are the projected ridership, farebox revenue, cost and [indiscernible]. You can see detail in the slide that are for BTSGIF. Thank you.
Operator
operatorThank you, Siriphen. Before we hand over to the Q&A session, Mr. Daniel would quickly like to take you through an overview of BTS shares price observation for bullish overview. Over to you, Mr. Daniel. Thank you.
Daniel Ross
executiveThanks, [indiscernible]. Yes. Just a few market observations. As mentioned, the share graph in front of you, you'll see that BTS share price peaked at THB 14.2. It's the green [ ball ] about in December 2019 and then obviously crushed like the rest of the market to its trough at THB 8.25 in March 2020, what we call the COVID trough. That was a 40%, 42% decline. And despite various kind of like rebounds and waves mainly linked to COVID, it is now trading -- and when I say now, this is 26th of May, at THB 8.65. So it's only increased around 5% versus the COVID trough and still remains at a 39% discount versus its pre-COVID peak. If you look at the next slide, it's more interesting, it is, this performance is actually much weaker relative to the peers. And the peers graph here is the set transportation sector, which you can see is, I would say, only about 17% below the pre-COVID peak and the SET Index, which is now only 4% below its pre-COVID peak. On the right-hand side, in various subsectors, you can see individual companies and how they have performed relative to their pre-COVID peak. At the top, for example, PTTEP, a 19% gain versus pre-COVID peak, BDMS 4% and INTUCH 5% and so on and so forth. So what we can generally see here is, individual companies have also rallied to either beyond the pre-COVID peak or are a much less of a discount versus a pre-COVID peak. So why do we see this -- when we assess this underperformance, what do we think the two reasons are? Next slide, please. The first is that -- and I would observe that the reasons are what we would say sentiment and not value-driven. But the first reason is a very interesting phenomenon, which is a ridership correlation. So since December [ 2019 ], BTS share price is quite highly correlated to ridership, around 0.76 correlation, which is obviously strange, given that almost negligible contribution comes from ridership. So we believe what's happened is that there has basically been this correlation, this association, sentimentally, between ridership and value, and we've seen that play out. The second reason is new project delays. So in early 2020 -- end of 2020, early 2021, [ set ] and the peers started to rebound. But as you see from the graph, BTS Group did not. And that was about the same time as the Orange Line bidding used in terms of the failed bid came out. Since then, there's been continued sort of negative news, which relates to the Orange Line and the Green Line concession extension not being endorsed. So this, we would contemplate, would be the second reason for the underperformance. Now why do I say the second one is sentiment-driven? Because actually most of values have not even included the value for these new lines or these new projects in the target price. So anyway, let's move on to the outlook. So on the next slide, you can see on the left-hand side, that close correlation between ridership and share price. And on the right side, you see two, sort of, dotted lines. The one of the furthest right is the base case ridership projection, which essentially shows that BTS ridership will return to pre-COVID level by December 2023. So if this correlation continues, then you could expect BTS share price to return again to pre-COVID levels at about a similar time. And that would equate to around about a 23% CAGR in the share price, again, if that relationship continued. A lot of people think December 2023 for COVID rebound is actually quite conservative. Some people say, end of this year for ridership coming back to pre-COVID levels. But if we take a more plausible case, let's say, April next year, you can -- you see the second line, where it's a much steeper rebound in ridership and then potentially a steeper rebound in the share price as well. So that's sentiment-driven. If you look on the next slide, potentially -- is actually much more stronger link to value than -- to BTS Group is actually Out-of-Home revenue, which has demonstrated historically, again, a much stronger correlation. So the column chart is -- the grey column is the historical Out-of-Home revenue, and the green line is the ridership. And you can you see a 0.86% correlation. The pink is the forecast Out-of-Home revenue. Again, a strong rebound expected following the base case ridership. Again, it's plausible that, that rebound -- and I personally think that rebound will be faster again, and we would expect to see a ridership increase being a potential catalyst for Out-of-Home revenue, VGI share price as well as BTS share price. On the last page, just some graphic representation. Again, here, the 14.2 pre-COVID share price, 8.25 trough. The price at 26th of May is around about 8.65. Analyst consensus, again, coming back to value, so analyst consensus, excluding Green Line extension, Orange Line and so on and so forth, 11.6, okay, a 35% premium to what we're at now. And the pre-COVID price, a 64% gain on where we are now. So to recap, I would say that BTS is mispriced due to like an illogical correlation with ridership, negative news on new projects more than being priced, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a faster recovery than expected, leading to a sentimental and value-driven rebound in the stock price. And I'll stop there and then hand over to Q&A.
Operator
operatorThank you, Mr. Daniel. That concludes our fiscal year's analyst meeting presentation.
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