MTelekom: TMH market share down 45.2% in 2005 from 46.2% in 2004

Hungarian penetration rate has reached 92.5% at the end of 2005, as market subscribers grew to 9.32m, from 8.8m in 2004. TMH's market share dropped by 1 percentage point to 45.2% during the year with 4.21m subscribers, slightly ahead of our 4.12m subscriber and 44% market share forecast, suggesting that Vodafone's market share uptake is not as rapid or aggressive as our forecast yet. TMH has repeatedly stated that it intends to defend its 10% pp lead over its second biggest competitor, Pannon. We expect mobile market share redistribution in Hungary as VOD accelerates its subscriber acquisition. We expect no impact on the share price, and reiterate our Buy recommendation on MTelekom and HUF1,150 fair value.