Pacific Internet - die asiatische AOL - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[La Cucaracha]

Zu dieser Thematik, bzw. diesem Vergleich habe ich einen interessanten Artikel gefunden...


Internet: Is Pacific Internet the Asian AOL?
Steve Smith (1/4/00)

Shares of Pacific Internet Ltd. (NASDAQ:PCNTF - news) have been as hot as duck fat on a well-oiled wok.

On Monday, the company said it had formed a partnership with Liam Consulting of Tel Aviv to spearhead investments and alliances among Israel ’s elite tech companies.

While the news release announcing the partnership didn’t offer many details, the news itself was enough sizzle to cause a Pavlovian salivation among investors. They gobbled up shares like a hungry dog.

On Monday the stock shot up $22.94 to $69.88.

Early in Tuesday’s session, the stock lost $7.88 to $62 in a market that is selling off sharply across the board.

What is Pacific Internet?

The company promotes itself as a leading Internet service provider (ISP) in Singapore and most of the Asia-Pacific region. It came public last February at $17 per share, quickly shot up to $104 and then sank to $20 during the summer swoon. Now the stock is up more than 100% since November 1.

Pacific Internet has been, and may continue to be for some time to come, a story stock. It has been called one of the last great pure plays of the Internet, a way to get in on the ground floor of an untapped market. Some have dubbed it Asia’s answer to America Online (NYSE:AOL - news) because it is an ISP that also offers proprietary content and e-commerce capabilities.

That last bit of hyperbole may be the company’s one greatest advantage: While the world moves toward globalization, many countries and their citizens remain steadfastly patriotic, clinging to homegrown products. The United States may have a huge technological advantage over the rest of the world, but much of the fertile foreign territory that many U.S. companies are counting on to grow revenue may reject the seeds of corporate America.

Casting A Wide Net Across Asia.

Pacific Internet is majority owned by Singapore-based Sembawang Corp., which in turn is 20% owned by Temasek Holdings, a government owned holding company. Pacific Internet has positioned itself throughout Asia by taking stakes in neighboring nations’ ISPs.

The company’s holdings include a 50.1% stake in the Hong Kong Supernet, a 40% stake in Manila’s Primeworld Digital Systems and 15% ownership of 1-Net Singapore, a nationwide high-speed network.

It has also formed an alliance with Thakral Brothers to provide Internet services in India and has recently purchased two Australia based ISPs, Zeta Internet and Hub Communications, its first foray into English language markets.

Why Is it Up?

A miniscule float and a positively insane market when it comes to Internet stocks don’t hurt.

But the real crux of the matter is the long-established barriers to entry for foreign (read U.S.) companies to enter Asian markets. So while PacNet’ s (as it is affectionately referred to by denizens of Hong Kong) subscriber base is a paltry 200,000, the company still has the home field advantage over most would-be competitors.

Established players like Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO - news) and AOL are clamoring to get into the region, given forecasts that say international growth of the Internet is expected to far outstrip that of the relatively mature U.S. market.

But while politics may give Pacific Internet an upper hand against its foreign competitors, the company is still forced to fight a market share war on its home turf. SingTel, Singapore’s leading ISP with 1.8 million subscribers, recently slashed its monthly leased line fees by 30% and is offering Internet access for free. That prompted Pacific Internet to contemplate paying new users to surf its sites.

While the company hasn’t actually resorted to this aggressive strategy, Pacific Internet has warned that the attempt to build market share could cause its earnings to sour.

But the firm’s best prospects may lie in its efforts outside of the pure ISP and Web portal businesses, particularly in its investment strategy.

Israel has long been called the ‘Silicon Valley of the Middle East,’ and Pacific Internet’s deal there is a clear sign that the company is looking well beyond the Pacific Rim to fulfill its ambitions of becoming more than just another portal looking for eyeballs.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

To its credit, the company is starting to take a page out of the playbook of some of the best known U.S. success stories. It has investments in more than 25 technology start-ups in the fashion of a CMGI Corp. (NASDAQ:CMGI - news) or Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ:ICGE - news) .

Juliette Chow, an analyst with Lehman Brothers says, “By having a strong presence in the innovative Israeli market, PacNet will act as an incubator, attracting and having access to cutting edge technology and companies.”

At the very least, she feels this will help the company ride along with the curve.

Pacific Internet’s Pacfusion.com will focus on all aspects of the Internet, from commerce and content to telephony and wireless interfaces.

One attractive feature that jumps out is the 66% increase in revenue, to $85 million during the past two years. At the same time, marketing costs and selling, general and administrative expenses, or SG&A, have increased only 15%.

This enabled the company to report a profit of $12.2 million at the end of 1998; it racked up a loss of $14.5 million in 1996. Many U.S. ‘Net companies that are spending the bulk of their IPO money on advertising to gain customers would be jealous of PacNet’s income statement.

But if PacNet can’t broaden its product line and revenue stream, the black ink on the bottom line may soon dry up. How much the company spends on new services and acquiring customers are big question marks.

Bottom Line:

Pacific Internet’s established connections in the high growth Asian markets and its proactive posture to expand and upgrade its services may allow it to emerge a winner. And with a market cap still just under $1 billion and the shares trading in the $60 range – virtually a penny stock in the Internet age – the share price may even be considered a bargain.


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For more in-house professional stock analysis and commentary, visit us at Individual Investor Online.

[yesup]

mal was deutsches: umsatze 2000(e): 45,9 mio euro, 2001: 90;
Gewinn 2000(e): 0,33), 2001: 0,63 = bereits in der gewinnzone! Durch ständige zukäufe ständig am vergrößern und marktanteile am erweitern.
beim surfen erhalten pacific user warengutscheine für die eigenen virtuellen einkaufszentren. börsenkapitalisierung ca. 800 mio (im vergleich aol ca 180 milliraden). shalom dann

[La Cucaracha]

Hier die HP Adresse: http://www.pacific.net.sg

Da steckt in meinen Augen richtig Potenzial drin! Das könnte ein Kracher dieses Jahr werden.

In USA haben sie schon wieder auf 64 $ angezogen...

[Zook]

Hi, yesup! Erfreulich, mal wieder was von einem "alten hasen" zu lesen.

Ich überlege gerade, mit einem Teil meines Gewinns aus dem AOL-Verkauf meinen Bestand an PCNTF aufzustocken. Vielleicht fallen sie bald noch einmal unter 60 $.

Gruß

Zook

[Lady_Elara]

Jetzt rede diesen Wert nicht schon wieder unter 60.Ich glaube Du hast genug Zeit gehabt Dich mit den Papieren einzudecken.Oder?

[flippoexpert]

Ich denke auch, daß die Aktie in Kürze die alten Höchststände
erreichen wird.
Die Informationen aus dem wallstreet-online Interview lassen zumindest
hoffen, daß dies bald der fall sein dürfte.
Mein Kursziel fürs 1.Halbjahr 200 Euro!
http://www.flippoexpert.com/

[Plaste]

He flippoexpert,
Dein KZ find ich toll. Vieleicht ein wenig viel. Bin bei 31,30€ rein (ihr lest richtig) und somit seit einigen Monaten von dem Wert überzeugt.
Hab in den letzten Monaten eigentlich nur richtig gelegen ( Multex bei 14,20€, ASC bei 0,28€, ....).
Glaub mir, es geht noch richtig ab. Und dieser Harmon oder wie er heißt hat sie ja auch unter seinen Top 10.
Im Aktionär (naja), sind sie mit KZ von 150€ angegeben.
Beobachte auch mal Starmedia Network, mein anderer Favorit.
mfg und auf steigende Kurse

[Go2Bed]

Hi zusammen,
ich würd sagen, Kz 200 Euro im 1. Halbjahr sind durchaus drin. Ein kurzer Blick auf die Marktkapitalisierung von PCNTF zeigt, daß mächtig Aufholpotential gegenüber CHINA, SIFY, KOREA und IIJI besteht. Im 1. Quartal werden noch eine Menge News rauskommen, die die Aktie mal ein bißchen dorthin befördern werden, wo sie hingehört.

[AMECO]

worldlyinvestor.com Region of the Day

An AOL for Asia?
By Michael Ward and Mido Shammaa, Internet Stocks Columnists

Pacific Internet`s move to be more than just another Asian ISP could pay off.


Asian Internet Service Provider (ISP) Pacific Internet (Nasdaq:PCNTF - news) is undergoing a transformation similar to the one that America Online (NYSE:AOL - news) undertook several years ago. The results could be equally beneficial.

Facing deadly competition in the business providing Internet connections, AOL shifted from a subscription-based model to a company that derived value from its e-commerce and content offerings.

New Revenue Base
Now PI, facing equally severe competition in the same arena, needs to make a similar change. The company must diversify its revenue base away from access fees that currently provide over 89% of its revenues. A new division, PacFusion, is a well-developed, transaction-based portal that just might do the trick.

The Asian ISP market is suffering from intense competition as the service is commoditized and the number of licenses in several countries increases. In Singapore, the market that provides 74% of PI`s revenue, up to seven players might end up competing for about 500,000 Internet users.

Competitors StarHub and Singnet, for example, are offering free Internet service. Other ISP licensees have backers with deep pockets and global telecom expertise, including MCI WorldCom (Nasdaq:WCOM - news) and Cable & Wireless (NYSE:CWP - news). Pacific Internet, which is indirectly majority-owned by the Singapore government through state-owned Sembcorp, is in a fragile position if it continues to depend on access fees. It has managed to hold on to its 200,000-plus users but at the cost of phone-charge rebates and deep cuts in access fees.

Second-Tier Player in Region
In the other markets where PI already has ISP operations, mainly Hong Kong, Australia and the Philippines, it remains a second-tier player despite its reputation for reliability and good local content. The ISP markets where potential still exists are the underdeveloped online markets of India and Thailand, where PI plans to roll out service soon. It will be a short period, though, before the same kind of pressures faced in other markets build up in those two countries.

So what`s to like about Pacific Internet, given the pressures we`ve decribed? Well, while competition hurts access fees, it increases the number of people online benefiting e-commerce sales and advertising revenues. Turning the Internet into a mass medium is key to the development of an online market.

Online commerce and advertising have greater profit margins; a solid brand such as PI can acquire customers at a more reasonable price. We also think that the subscriber base that PI has built in the region is a fantastic platform to turn page views into revenues.

The stock has doubled since August, but it still well off its high from last April. Now, however, it`s looking even more attractive if we consider the prospects of a strategic investor acquiring a stake in PI. The company offers a toehold into the Asia-Pacific region as well as local expertise and relations that are necessary to develop local content. Speculation over the possibility of a sale of state-owned Sembcorp`s stake in PI to a global Internet player has increased since Singapore`s telecommunications regulator said that it is doing away with the 49% limit on foreign ownership for Internet service providers.

The deep pockets of other ISP backers leaves PI at a disadvantage. And speculation over the fate of PI`s stake was amplified after Sembcorp said it may sell its entire 42% stake at the ``right price.`` We think that such a deal would be beneficial, as Sembcorp has limited telecom or Internet expertise and may not be able to offer much added value as competition heats up in the region.

Michael Ward is Director of Research and Mido Shammaa is a Research Analyst at International Assets Advisory Corp (www.iaac.com). Both developed the International Assets NETDEX, the first global Internet stock index. Their Global Internet Stocks column appears every Monday.