Thaicom Public Company Limited, or THCOM, won the auction for Phase 3 of the Universal Service Obligation project, known as USO3, in 2 of the 5 regions, with a combined winning project value of 2.45 billion baht. It won through the TCI consortium, in partnership with INTEL, according to an announcement by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission on September 11. The NBTC board approved the electronic auction process for the USO3 project, which has a project value of 5.56 billion baht, with the total auction value coming in at 5.42 billion baht, 0.6% below the proposed project value. Research from Kasikorn Securities expects THCOM to recognise revenue of 1.5 billion baht from installation work in 2027 and 824 million baht in service fees during 2028 to 2032. The installation work takes 4 quarters, starting from the first quarter of 2027 or the second quarter of 2027, accounting for 62.6% of the total project value. The service portion runs for 5 years, and the company is expected to recognise 80% of the installation work and 90% of the service portion. The research house's view is slightly positive, because the USO3 project result announcement beat the expectations of both the research house and the market, as it came amid internal conflict on the NBTC board, and it should help ease THCOM's losses during the transition from the TC4 satellite to TC9 and TC10. The project is expected to generate revenue of 1.2 billion baht, accounting for 30% of the 2027 revenue estimate, and gross profit of 184 million baht, accounting for 11% of the 2027 gross profit estimate. The research house maintains its Hold recommendation for THCOM with a target price of 12.47 baht, having calculated the present value of profit from this project at approximately 0.34 baht per share, using a WACC of 10%, and views any share price gain beyond 0.34 baht as an overreaction. It also notes that the profit share from the USO3 project is not yet enough to turn around THCOM's operating losses, which stem from delays in launching the TC9 and TC10 satellites.
Thaicom Public Company LimitedTHCOM won the USO3 auction in 2 of 5 regions via the TCI consortium, a concrete project win expected to add 1.2 billion baht of 2027 revenue and ease losses during the satellite transition.
Intel Corporation