Tuas Limited (TUA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Tuas Limited Half Year Financial Year 2025 Results Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Richard Tan, CEO. Please go ahead.

Good morning all. I'm Richard Tan, CEO of SIMBA Telecom, the main operating vehicle of the Tuas group. Also joining me on the call are Tuas Executive Chairman, David Teoh; and SIMBA Telecom's CFO, Harry Wong. It is my pleasure today to share with you the FY '25 first half results of Tuas Limited covering the period 1st August 2024 to 31st January 2025. Slide 2 lays out the agenda of this presentation, starting with Harry running through the financials. I will then cover the business updates and outlook. Finally, we'll reserve some time for Q&A. You will again note that the numbers reported are all in Singapore dollars. I will now hand you over to Harry.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Harry Wong, CFO of SIMBA Telecom. I will be presenting the financials of the Tuas Group. On Slide 3, you can see that we achieved a notable improvement in the financial results during the first half of FY '25 when compared to the same period of FY '24. Revenue for the half year is $73.2 million, up from $54.7 million in the first half of last year. EBITDA increased 48%, up from $22.4 million in the prior half year to $33.1 million. Net profit after tax of positive $3 million is a significant improvement on the prior half year's loss of $3.5 million. We achieved a maiden half year net profit after tax and increased cash and term deposit during the period. ARPU for the first half was $9.62. Next, we look at the revenue and EBITDA on Slide 4. Revenue for the half year-ending 31st January 2025 increased 34% compared to the first half of FY '24. With the increasing scale of the business, EBITDA margin has improved to 45% of revenue. The key drivers of this EBITDA uplift continue to be an increased subscriber base and expanded plan mix catering to different customers' needs. Slide 5 shows our sustained mobile subscriber growth since FY '22. As of 31st January 2025, we have about 1.16 active services, representing a 24% increase over the past 1 year. We estimate SIMBA's mobile subscriber market share to be around 11.6%. Slide 6 shows the mobile subscriber base. As of 31st January 2025, we have approximately 14,000 active services. We proceed to cash flow on Slide 7. We continue to show positive cash flow. Opening cash and term deposit balance was $55.3 million. Net cash generated from operating activities was $41.8 million. The main cash outflow comes from acquisition of plant and equipment and intangible assets of $23.6 million, largely mobile network and some fixed broadband infrastructure. This brings the end cash and term deposits to $73.1 million as of 31st January 2025. With this, I will let Richard proceed with the business updates.

Thank you, Harry. The Singapore mobile market continues to be very dynamic, and we have progressively improved our offers to ensure that we remain competitive and consistently grow our business. Our $10 and $12 price plans are very popular, especially when they provide data that can be used in Singapore as well as our neighboring countries. We made our plans even more attractive yesterday with the inclusion of Hong Kong for the main data quarter and the introduction of an aggressive APAC bonus tier. We further simplified our plans and they now feature free IDD, which is very attractive to travelers as well as migrant workers. Support our growth, SIMBA continues to invest in our mobile network to grow capacity and improve overall user experience. 5G coverage expansion is well on track to exceed regulatory requirements, and we have been busy adding 5G services to road and rail tunnels as well. Of late, SIMBA has been exploring new opportunities in the data-only segment, and we are hopeful of augmenting our growth. Moving on to Slide 9. As discussed in the previous slide, we continue to acquire new fiber broadband customers with a clear and simple message: Lowest price, highest speed with the latest technology, 0 upfront cost, free O&T and shorter contract. SIMBA has recently partnered with an established broadband CPE vendor who exclusively launched a true 10 gigabit per second Wi-Fi 7 router at a groundbreaking price of $179, ensuring that our broadband customers are able to experience the fastest broadband speeds without technology limitations. In parallel, we are communicating with our 2.5 gigabit per second customers as we transition them smoothly to the 10 gigabit per second plan. And finally, Slide 10, which covers the outlook for the business. We have built a solid foundation for this FY with our first half results, and we will push for more broad-based mobile subscriber growth for the rest of the year. This includes an expansion of subscriber acquisition channels. Additionally, we will continue our focus to optimize our margins. To support our growth momentum, our CapEx spending, which is primarily allocated to 5G expansion, 4G capacity upgrade and fiber broadband rollout will be in the range of $50 million to $55 million. In summary, the group has demonstrated its ability to sensibly manage its cash, and we are on track to achieve a full year net profit after tax. That ends my short presentation, and I will now hand it back to the moderator for the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from William Park with Citi.

Firstly, with respect to the mobile market, I appreciate that you called that data on your segment and broad-based mobile subscriber growth. But can you just step through some of the key opportunities that you're targeting here and how you sort of think about this in the context of mobile subscriber growth momentum in the near to medium term, please?

Well, I think I have mentioned in previous calls that there are devices that there are more and more data devices that are required to be connected to the network. So we are exploring these opportunities. Global tourism is also growing, and we are looking at that as well. So there are multiple opportunities in sight and some of them are bearing fruit, and that is what I can say for the moment.

And just another one with respect to your potential expansion of the TAM that you guys are targeting. Just wondering from the formation of the special economic zone in the Johor region, just wondering how you guys are thinking about potential upside opportunities here and whether this accelerates your growth trajectory in terms of looking at markets beyond Singapore, please?

Well, it's obviously a very interesting development. We are tracking the developments there closely. But obviously, it's still early days, and we will see how we can take advantage. But as I just said, it's early. So I can't say anything specific for now.

Perhaps if I could extend this question a little bit. Would your sort of strategy be sort of looking at capturing more of the migrant workers that commute to and from Singapore on a daily basis? Or is it effectively expanding beyond the migrant workers to potentially tap into some of the residents across Johor?

Well, I think we are doing quite well already in the migrant workers segment. And all segments are obviously important and interesting to us. So if this is an area that encourages more flow of people as well as workers to and from Malaysia, that obviously represents an opportunity for us as well as SIMBA.

And perhaps a last one for me. Just in terms of broadband, I appreciate that you guys are bound by confidentiality with IMDA, but so you may be limited to providing more comprehensive response to this. But could you provide some color around how we should be thinking about cost of delivering broadband services and the extent of rebates and how we should be sort of thinking about broadband margins now versus when the rebates kind of roll off?

Well, I think the cost from NetLink Trust is well documented and they are publicly available. So I won't exactly drill into that. But with regards to the rebates, there are 2 parts to the rebate. One is for adoption support and the other one is for the expansion of the -- for the upgrade of the infrastructure. So I would say that for adoption support, we have submitted, what you would say, a claim because we have been adding subscribers to our network. So that is being looked at. For infrastructure support, there is a certain threshold for us to meet. I am confident to say that we will meet that particular threshold for the second half of the year, and that claim will also be looked at by the regulator.

Your next question comes from Nick Harris with Morgans Financial.

Great free cash flow once again in the half. That's fabulous. I had actually probably a follow-on question really. I was just in terms of your CapEx, you've sort of lifted that a little bit for the full year. I'm just curious, is that related to the government rebates that we were just talking about in terms of upgrading the infrastructure? Or are you expanding the core network faster? And then I've got one more, if you wouldn't mind.

Well, I can't provide too much color in terms of how CapEx is distributed. But I think it's very important to note that CapEx is required to support the growth of the company. So the fact remains that we are adding more capacity and expanding our 5G coverage as well for the company because we believe that it's very important to have the necessary capacity to support the growth of the company.

And my second question was just on the broadband growth. That's a great number. Just trying to understand that sort of customer demographic. Is that like a net new customer to SIMBA? Or is most of it coming from your existing mobile customers that are now also consuming a fixed broadband plan?

It's a mixture of both. I think everyone in Singapore finds our broadband offering very interesting and very exciting. So we're getting a mix of customers, both from existing customers in terms of whether they are with SIMBA or with another mobile network provider. They have taken a look at our offering. They can see that it's very simple and it's priced very attractively, and we do not limit them in terms of any technology limitations. So we have been targeting new homes that have been brought into the market as well. So I would say that our broadband growth is across the island and pretty much broad-based.

Your next question comes from Joseph Michael with Morgan Stanley.

Just the first question I had just on the outlook statement, where you talk about expansion of subscriber acquisition channels. Can you please talk to what channels you're expanding into? Are they new channels or existing channels? And then should we expect a step-up in OpEx in the second half to support this higher marketing spend?

Okay. Thanks, Joe, for what I would consider a rather sensitive question commercially. But what I can say is that with the expansion -- I mean, SIMBA is now a brand that is very appealing across the market, and we have been approached by different groups of people to see how we can work collaboratively and this will help support our growth for the future. So it is across different channels, channels that we have not addressed before. So I remain very positive in terms of how we can bring that to fruition. Sorry, let me address the other question about the lift in OpEx. We are a company that is obviously very conscious in terms of managing our OpEx. So as far as you can see, as we expand to these various channels, there is nothing that would stick out that would shift our OpEx, if you know what I mean.

The next question I had is just around sort of brand awareness in Singapore. You've obviously talked about you've got broad appeal there. You've been in the market for 5 years, 12% mobile share. How would you rate brand awareness in Singapore today? Do you think SIMBA is a well-known brand? Is it mainstream yet? Can you just comment on that, please?

I would say we're pretty much mainstream. We have invested significantly over the past few years in ensuring that people are not only aware of the brand, but they are aware of what the brand stands for, which just to repeat myself, stands for completely transparent, simplicity, best value for money. We have brought a lot of value to everyone in Singapore and everyone recognizes that not only in mobile, they are recognizing the fact they will bring it to broadband as well. So I think it's very exciting. The brand is extremely well established, I would say, anecdotally, if I speak to my friends and relatives, they have been coming to me telling me what -- how excited they are to be part of the SIMBA family.

And then I just had one last question, just another question on CapEx. So you're obviously growing subscribers really fast. You're investing in CapEx to sort of support that growth and maintain a sort of minimum level standard in terms of network. My question is, does CapEx continue to grow with subs? Or at some point, do you get leverage and CapEx growth is below sort of revenue growth? How do we think about CapEx over the next few years?

Well, it's an interesting question because CapEx is obviously -- we do need to add to our capacity. And then there is obviously the need for us to meet regulatory requirements for 5G coverage -- for 5G outdoor coverage. So CapEx will be allocated accordingly. But the difference is this. We've been doing it over the past number of years. However, we have a very, very good understanding of where the traffic is. So we do not just simply allocate CapEx for the sake of allocating. We do it very, very targeted. So we will allocate CapEx to exactly where we know needs to be added in the network. So that's what I can say for now.

Your next question comes from Hussaini Saifee with Maybank.

Congratulations on the great set of results. First question is on the competitive landscape. I understand that SIMBA has very simple pricing plans, but there are multiple MVNOs and digital brands of the incumbents, which are offering in the range of $7 to $8 and almost 200, 300 GB kind of data. So just trying to understand how SIMBA is positioned to compete in that space.

I think one thing is clear is that once you're at the level, the difference of $1 or $2 is not going to make a difference. What people will look for is what the plan offers itself. And as I've indicated in the presentation, you will see that we have progressively added more things to the plan, the latest being the inclusion of an APAC tier as well as Hong Kong in the main quarter. So we're doing things that the competitors are not doing, and that positions us quite differently. And last but not least, I think it should be very clear that many of the MVNOs do not provide 5G. In our case, as I said, we are simple. There's no complicated situation where some plans have 5G and some plans don't. All our plans have 5G.

The second question is on maybe the long-term guidance or aspiration or target in terms of revenue market share. When I do some back calculation, it comes to that SIMBA has around 6% or 6% plus revenue market share. So just trying to understand that where you see the long-term sustainable market share you wanted to achieve your aspiration maybe?

Our aspiration is to grow as much as possible and not try to limit ourselves, whether it's when it comes to subscriber market share or in terms of revenue market share. I think Harry did mention our market share is around 11.6% from a market perspective. And thank you for indicating to me that revenue market share is about 6%. Without a doubt, there is room for us to grow.

And maybe the final one on the fixed broadband, again, SIMBA or Tuas has done an excellent job in terms of growing the base. But just trying to understand that are you getting the new households or new household formation? Or is it that you are getting subscribers who are migrating or maybe moving from the incumbent operators.

Apologize, my line dropped.

Hussaini, if you could repeat your question.

Yes, sure. So the question was on fixed broadband. Obviously, SIMBA has done an excellent job in terms of growing the base. Just trying to understand from where you are getting those subscribers. Are those the new households or are these coming from the subscribers moving from the incumbent subscription?

Well, you can -- it's from all segments, and it's competitively sensitive for me to disclose the split, but I appreciate your question.

Your next question comes from Darren Odell with Peloton Capital.

Congratulations on a strong [indiscernible] key target segments that you [indiscernible].

Sorry, Darren, the -- you are coming across quite garbled. So I can't make out your question.

[indiscernible] advertising and marketing costs [indiscernible] broadband increased spending and just how the [indiscernible] by segment.

I heard a bit about advertising and marketing costs and how is it related to broadband. That's all I can make up. Is that -- was that your question?

Just the broadband increased marketing spend and how that [indiscernible].

We don't give breakdown in terms of advertising and marketing spend. But obviously, it is something that we do what we need to ensure that to go after the market that we intend to capture. It's very hard for me to kind of like give you any more color for that more than that.

There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Tan for closing remarks.

I would like to thank all on this call for your time and making the effort to understand our business better along with our achievements. The Board and management of Tuas Limited appreciate your support, and I wish you all a great day ahead.

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.