Reuters: Hot Stocks: STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-Telecom shares fall on 3G probe worries

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STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-Telecom shares fall on 3G probe worries Oct 26th 2012, 05:36 Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:36am EDT Shares in telecom firms fell after newspapers reported that the national anti-corruption board will investigate the alleged price collusion and violation of the state procurement law in the 3G spectrum auction, spurring concerns about possible delays of 3G projects. Market leader Advanced Info Service dropped 2.5 percent to 198 baht, the lowest in more than a week. The second-ranked Total Access Communication lost 2 percent to 87.75 baht while smaller rival True Corp was down 2.7 percent at 5.35 baht. The broader SET index fell 1.3 percent. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has set up a sub-committee to probe the 11-member National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), which held a 3G licence auction on Oct. 16, the Bangkok Post reported. "This legal hurdle is a psychological hit for the sector and will be an overhang in the near term," said a telecoms analyst at broker Kiatnakin Securities. 1222 (0522 GMT) For related story, click (Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap in Bangkok; Editing by Jijo Jacob; viparat.jantraprapaweth@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 11:02 STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-Citi upgrades PTT Global Chemical citing low valuations Citigroup upgraded PTT Global Chemical Pcl PTTGC.BK to 'buy' from 'neutral' and raised its target price to 72 baht from 60 baht, citing low valuations and good near-term earnings outlook. PTTGC shares were down 1.3 percent to 58.25 baht. They fell 11.1 percent since mid August, underperforming a 2.4 percent loss of the energy sector .SETEN, following a new gas contract with its parent PTT PTT.BK which resulted in higher gas costs. PTTGC's 2013 estimated P/E was at 8.4 times, representing 34 percent, 19 percent and 36 percent discounts to Asian chemical peers, Asian refining peers, and global chemical peers respectively, Citi said in a report dated Oct. 25. Near term catalysts for PTTGC included strong refinery margins and additional mono ethylene glycol (MEG) capacity, it said. "We still expect strong refining margins led by resilient middle distillate demand to support PTTGC's earnings in the next 6 months. Ethylene cycle should have bottomed out but meaningful recovery should arrive in the second half of 2013," it said. 1040 (0340 GMT) (Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap in Bangkok; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi; viparat.jantraprapaweth@thomsonreuters.com) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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