The most important takeaway from yesterday's conference call was the estimated HUF 60bn NPV of synergies from the fixed and mobile merger to be realised over the next 3 years. The company estimates that half of the amount will come from tax effects (they can now realize tax benefits from NGN and broadband roll-outs which they could not do so before as the fixed business had a negative tax base), another 30-35% from opex reductions from streamlined costs, and the rest to come from lower capex.
As expected, the company was still unable to discuss the ongoing legal investigation and audit delays, and therefore there is still no visibility on the timing of dividend payments.
Our view: We view the update on the merger benefits positively and we would expect nroker earnings upgrades in the coming days. We expect only minor adjustments in our forecasts given that we were one of the few to quantify and incorporate the tax and opex benefits into our numbers.