UBS: Maintains "buy" rating on PCCW (00008) and raises target price to 5.5 Hong Kong dollars.

UBS releases research report, maintaining a "buy" rating on PCCW (00008), with a target price raised from 5 Hong Kong dollars to 5.5 Hong Kong dollars, and a dividend yield of 7.8 cents. The company's revenue in the second half of last year increased by 2% year-on-year to 19.9 billion Hong Kong dollars, while EBITDA remained flat year-on-year at 7.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, lower than expected mainly due to increased expenses from the expansion of the media business. The company announced a final dividend per share of 0.2848 Hong Kong dollars, unchanged from last year, equivalent to 95% of HKT-SS (06823) annual dividend. The bank has lowered its revenue and EBITDA forecasts for PCCW from 2021 to 2027 by 6%, reduced dividend per share forecast by 1% to 5%, expecting dividends per share to remain flat instead of maintaining the stable dividend payout ratio of Hong Kong Telecom, to support the media and solutions business that may still be burning cash.