Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Athaporn served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 22 years, of which 19 were in research and 9 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006.

Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also performs financial advisory services for TKC Services and provides 11 other on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely:

1) Snippets (news-driven);
2) Sathorn Series (financial services);
3) Silicon Stories (technology); 
4) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin series);
5) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative);
6) Thai Media Spotlight;
7) Political Pit Stop; 
8) Telecom Review; 
9) Thai Macro Watch (read-through from foreign events);  
10) Small Cap Diary; and
11) Property Grid

There are also 3 limited-time series driven by specific events or locations, namely:
1) Thai Corona Crisis;
2) South Series; and
3) Mechanics and Details (deal forensics).

The Week that Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Indocement, Domestic Consumers, and ASEAN Retail

Snippets #37: Intouch's Financing Bet, Healthcare Hun!

Reality Check XIV: What's a Ballpark Number for the Intuch Spinoff?

StubWorld: Intouch Gains On Possible Sale of Thaicom

Thai Media Spotlight: Government Rescue Plan

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Equity Bottom-Up

Following the shocking entry of AIS into the insurance industry, we met up with AIS and the rest of the Intuch Group to check on things:
<ul>
<li>
Foray into insurance and digital advertising. AIS tried to hush the issue during the recent meeting, bundling these two into 'digital service' and focusing on the more modest 1-year view rather than long term. We see this as a sign of bad faith and have exited the stock.</li>
<li>
AIS' operations. Overall good, but not spectacular. Progress was made on the postpaid side and migrant workers. Their key message was that industry competition in handset subsidies and capex have declined, but MCorp Review thinks this will change quickly with the capital intensive 5G deployment (at least on the capex side).</li>
<li>
Thaicom continues to report dismal numbers with EBITDA dropping 13% and operating cash flows dropping a further 32%, but they try to focus on future projects such as NAVA and foreign markets. </li>
<li>
Intuch. A rosier picture here with introduction of YDM, a digital marketing success story with Korean influence. Also includes higher valuations for existing startups.</li>
</ul>

Following the shocking entry of AIS into the insurance industry, we met up with AIS and the rest of the Intuch Group to check on things:


Foray into insurance and digital advertising. AIS tried to hush the issue during the recent meeting, bundling these two into 'digital service' and focusing on the more modest 1-year view rather than long term. We see this as a sign of bad faith and have exited the stock.

AIS' operations. Overall good, but not spectacular. Progress was made on the postpaid side and migrant workers. Their key message was that industry competition in handset subsidies and capex have declined, but MCorp Review thinks this will change quickly with the capital intensive 5G deployment (at least on the capex side).

Thaicom continues to report dismal numbers with EBITDA dropping 13% and operating cash flows dropping a further 32%, but they try to focus on future projects such as NAVA and foreign markets. 

Intuch. A rosier picture here with introduction of YDM, a digital marketing success story with Korean influence. Also includes higher valuations for existing startups.


Intouch Holdings

Intouch Group Recap: AIS Wants to Be AIA