On June 21 AOT informed the SET that its board approved reclamation of commercial and office rental areas at Suvarnabhumi and Phuket airports to alleviate passenger congestion and improve passenger experience. Short-term impact is lower revenue, but AOT believes the better airport quality will lead to more passengers in the mid to longer term. We keep AOT as Outperform after a 3% fall in share price yesterday, suggesting the negative is priced in; importantly, its earnings are on an uptrend in tandem with Thai tourism. Our end-2024 DCF TP is cut to Bt78/share (from Bt80/share) after revising earnings.
Reclamation of commercial areas to improve facilities at Suvarnabhumi and Phuket airports. On June 21 AOT informed the SET that its Board of Directors approved reclamation of commercial areas from concessionaire King Power Duty Free and office rental area from government agencies at Suvarnabhumi and Phuket airports with the goal of alleviating passenger congestion effective on July 1, 2024. Its goal is to improve the passenger experience by adding co-working space and a kid zone. AOT sees this as key to a more passenger-friendly airport and encouraging an increase in Thai tourism as it works towards its goal of ranking Suvarnabhumi Airport among the world's top 50 airports by 2025 and the top 20 within the next five years from 58th in 2024.
Impact and benefit. According to AOT, the reclamation of commercial area will come with a reduction in the minimum guarantee per passenger for the duty-free concessions of 7.5% at Suvarnabhumi and 19% at regional airports (Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai airports). AOT estimates a reduction in revenue from the minimum guarantee of Bt74mn/month at Suvarnabhumi and Bt19mn/month at Phuket airport; office rental revenue will be cut by 1mn/month for a total of Bt1.1bn on a full-year basis. AOT expects the impact to be diluted in the mid to longer term as it will be getting additional revenue from other commercial activities such as the Airport City project (expected in FY2025) and the expansion of Don Mueang Airport (expected in FY2030). It also believes a better experience at the airport will encourage more passengers to fly via its airports, boosting both its aero and non-aero businesses. AOT also says the reclamation of commercial areas at both airports is sufficient and eliminates the need for additional airports, including Don Mueang airport.
Earnings projection and TP revised down. We revise our AOT core earnings down by 1% in FY2024 (since the reclamation of commercial area will be effective in 4QFY24) and 4% in FY2025 onward. This lowers our end-2024 DCF TP by Bt2/share to Bt78/share (WACC at 7.6% and LT growth at 2%).
Maintain Outperform rating on AOT. AOT’s share price dropped Bt1.75/share or 3% yesterday, suggesting the negative is priced in. We affirm that we see its core earnings as on an uptrend to Bt23bn in FY2024 (+150% YoY) and Bt28bn in FY2025 (+23% YoY). Risks. Global economic slowdowns that will cut travel demand. We see ESG risks as environmental issues (E) and social issues such as safety (S).
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