Tuas Limited (ASX:TUA)
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Apr 28, 2026, 4:10 PM AEST
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Earnings Call: H1 2026

Mar 24, 2026

Operator

I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Richard Tan, CEO. Please go ahead.

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I'm Richard Tan, Chief Executive Officer of SIMBA Telecom, the principal operating entity of the TUAS Group. Also on the call today are Mr. David Teoh, Executive Chairman of TUAS Limited, and Mr. Harry Wong, Chief Financial Officer of SIMBA Telecom. It's a pleasure to present the financial results for TUAS Limited for the half year ending January 31st, 2026, covering the period which started August 1st, 2025. Let me briefly outline today's agenda as shown on slide two. We'll begin with Harry, who will walk through the financial performance and key metrics for the year. I'll then provide an update on our operational progress, status of M1 acquisition, and outlook for FY 2026. We'll conclude with a Q&A session to address any questions you may have. Please note that all financial figures discussed today are denominated in Singapore dollars.

With that, I will now hand over to Harry to take us through the numbers.

Harry Wong
CFO, SIMBA Telecom

Good morning, everyone. My name is Harry Wong, CFO of SIMBA Telecom. I'll be presenting the financials of the TUAS Group. On slide three, you'll see that we achieved a notable improvement in the financial results during the first half of FY 2026 when compared to that of FY 2025. Revenue for the half year is SGD 91.9 million, up from SGD 73.2 million for the same period last year. Pre-acquisition costs amounting to SGD 10.5 million was incurred. Excluding this, the underlying EBITDA increased 27%, up from SGD 33.1 million to SGD 42.1 million. We achieved a half year positive statutory net profit after tax of SGD 8.2 million, which is a significant improvement on the prior period's profit of SGD 3 million. Next, we look at the revenue and EBITDA on slide four.

Revenue for the half-year ending January 31st, 2026 increased 26% compared to that of FY 2025. With increased scale of the business, EBITDA margin has improved to 46% of revenue. Gross mobile ARPU for the year was 9.61. The key driver of the EBITDA uplift is the increased subscriber base for both the mobile and broadband products. Our mobile plans include generous roaming data at every price point, and broadband plans provide exceptional value, including premium Wi-Fi 7 routers and home phone lines as part of the package. Slide five shows our sustained mobile subscriber growth since FY 2023. As of January 31st, 2026, we had about 1.412 million subscribers, representing a 13% increase over the past half year. Slide six shows the broadband subscriber base.

As of January 31st, 2026, we had approximately 46,000 active services. We have gained traction in this segment, and we have added 20,000 subscribers over the past half year. We proceed to a cash flow on slide seven. We continue to show positive cash flow. Opening cash and term deposit balance was SGD 80.7 million. Net cash generated from operating activities was SGD 50.1 million. The main cash outflow comes from acquisition of plant and equipment and intangible assets of SGD 18.9 million, largely mobile network and some fixed broadband infrastructure. We raised funds from capital markets of SGD 360 million in support of the M1 acquisition. This brings the ending cash and term deposits to SGD 478 million as of January 31st, 2026. Positive cash flow after CapEx for the year is a welcome achievement.

I should note that pre-acquisition costs that have been accounted for in this half year have not become liable for payment during the first half or since then. This explains a good portion of the positive cash flow outperformance compared to EBITDA. With this, I will let Richard proceed with the business case.

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

Thank you, Harry. Singapore's mobile market remains highly competitive, and over the past financial year, SIMBA has continued to focus on delivering stronger value across all price points. This strategy has clearly resonated with consumers, as reflected in our robust subscriber growth. We have further enhanced our mobile offerings by adding two popular roaming destinations, Japan and Australia, as inclusions in the APAC tier to our higher-value plans. This enhancement is an important part of supporting our continued growth in the mobile segment. To serve our expanding customer base, SIMBA continues to invest in network coverage and overall user experience. I am pleased to share that we have achieved another significant milestone. We have surpassed IMDA's regulatory benchmark of 95% 5G outdoor coverage well ahead of the January 31st, 2026 deadline. Slide nine highlights the reasons behind the strong momentum in our fiber broadband business.

The accelerated growth is driven by a clear, simple, and compelling value proposition through 10 Gb per second symmetrical speeds complemented by a premium Wi-Fi 7 router, modem, and a home phone line included as standard. We are also proud to share that Ookla has awarded SIMBA both the fastest download speed and most reliable speed titles for the second half of CY 2025. Most listeners would have used Ookla to do a speed test on your connectivity, and they are widely regarded as an accurate global leader in internet testing and network intelligence. This recognition is a testament to our engineering excellence and our unwavering commitment to delivering the best possible service experience for our customers. Moving to slide 10. We appreciate shareholders' patience as we await IMDA's decision on our proposed acquisition of M1.

This is a significant transaction involving critical national infrastructure, and on a combined basis, it will create Singapore's second-largest mobile customer base. Both Keppel and SIMBA continue to work diligently through the regulatory process, and we remain fully committed to securing the necessary approvals. Finally, the business outlook. The H1 has established a solid platform for us, with sustained growth across both our mobile and fiber broadband segments. In line with this expansion, SIMBA's standalone CapEx for the full year is expected to range between SGD 50 million-SGD 55 million. We will continue to prioritize margin optimization and maintain disciplined cash management as we scale. I'll now hand back to the moderator for the Q&A session.

Operator

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two, and if you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Siraj Ahmed from Citigroup. Please go ahead.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

Hi. Morning. It's Siraj Ahmed. Can you hear me okay?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

Yes.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

Yes. Just, I have maybe three questions. The first one, just on the, maybe a multi-part question on subs momentum. Pretty strong pickup in momentum in the half. Just keen to understand what drove that, from your perspective, especially given your advertising marketing spend is actually down year on year.

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

Okay. Obviously the momentum has been strong for the first half. In part, I think it was, you could say that it was due to our announcement of the M1 acquisition because people are seeing us in different light. They know that we're a serious player, and we are here to stay, and we have been delivering very good, value for across all of our service plan. This has resonated obviously, across the, you know, our customer base as well as, people who have not come on board yet. We saw very strong momentum for the H1 .

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

Richard, just because I'm into the stock as well, just in terms of first quarter versus second quarter, is there some seasonality or some sort of events that supports Q1? I know Q1 is quite strong. Q2 is strong as well, but it is down quarter-over-quarter. Is there something that impacts it from like a seasonality perspective?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

This is the typical seasonality effect because as you all are well aware, the November and December traveling period is always very strong in terms of people leaving Singapore for their holidays. A lot of people will sign up prior to that, and then they will return, everyone goes back to work and school when back in January. You are obviously noticing the seasonality effect.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

All right. Actually that's a good segue for my question on just in terms of the current environment with you know fuel and everything like that. Given that traveling is a big part of your value prop as well, are you seeing any sort of anything that you can call out based on current trends that you're seeing on that impacting your-

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

The trends will be very similar to past, to previous years. We expect second half of the year to continue to exhibit good growth as well, subject to the usual seasonality effects that we have seen over the past three to four years.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

All right. Last one. In terms of just the gross margin, it seems like the net worth, the COGS has gone up quite a bit. Gross margin is down year-over-year. Is there some one-off in that we should be considering?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

What we have been focusing on more is the EBITDA margin, and the EBITDA margin has actually grown by 1 percentage point. I think that's the main thing to focus on.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

Okay. All right. Thank you. Over.

Operator

Thank you. Your next question comes from Darren Odell from Peloton Capital. Please go ahead.

Darren Odell
Equity Analyst, Peloton Capital

Hi. Congratulations on a strong result again. Just in relation to the cost, the SGD 10.5 million one-off cost in relation to M1 acquisition. I was just wondering, it was quite large. I was just wondering if you're able to break that down in a little bit more detail, please.

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

We're not providing any breakdown as of now, but it is a mixture of legal due diligence, tax due diligence, financial due diligence, and financial advisory. I think considering the size of the transaction, it is actually very, very reasonable.

Darren Odell
Equity Analyst, Peloton Capital

Just in relation to just broadband connections, which have obviously been very strong in the last half, what's the sort of backlog look for that, or do we expect the same sort of momentum to continue in number of subscribers or to be increasing, or how should we be thinking about that in the future?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

What I can say right now is that we're working very, very hard to build on the momentum that we have established. The fact that Ookla has given us the award puts us in a very, very good position to build on that momentum.

Darren Odell
Equity Analyst, Peloton Capital

Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator

Thank you. Your next question comes from James Bales from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

James Bales
Equities Research Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Hi, guys. I guess I'd like to build on those questions about the acceleration in mobile and the strength in broadband subs. You talked about it being a question of brand awareness, durability, value that is in the consumer's mind. Should we extrapolate that the acceleration that you've seen in the first half is sustainable throughout the year and into FY 2027?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

To be specific, are you referring to mobile or fiber broadband?

James Bales
Equities Research Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Well, I'm referring to both. I guess I'm a bit surprised on broadband, where there's a, you know, two-year term. It's a commoditized product, all selling, you know, the NetLink service. How you've managed to scale that so fast and whether we should expect that continues in the same sort of way.

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

I think you would have seen that our value proposition is very strong. We have included a lot of value in. The router that we are offering is a really good router product. No compromises because, for example, it has a true 10 Gb per second Ethernet port. We have also added a home phone line as well. With the awards that I've mentioned from Ookla, that puts us in a very good position. People have been signing up through word of mouth. They have experienced very, very good service from both SIMBA, and the performance has been great. Obviously, we've been spending on marketing as well to ensure that the awareness is built up across the board.

With that foundation laid, that has put us in very good standing in terms of continued growth for broadband. Mobile, I think we are very well established across all segments. We have seen good gains in these different segments which I have alluded to. These include, for example, the mass market, and foreign worker segment is something that we've always been very strong in. Without a doubt, our penetration is now deeper. Our growth is more broad-based, so that gives us also a good foundation for continued mobile growth.

James Bales
Equities Research Analyst, Morgan Stanley

That's really good context. I guess the other question I had was around M1 deal completion. This has taken a lot longer than you'd thought. Can you help us understand the, in your mind, what's changed? You know, you would have expected that this deal completed last year or in January when you first announced it. Can you help us understand why it's taken longer and whether your confidence in closing it has changed at all?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

Well, as I've indicated in my presentation, it is an important transaction. What I did not say, for example, is that this is the first time that the market is undergoing consolidation. Obviously, you know, there are all aspects of the matter that IMDA will need to weigh upon. I'm not surprised. We, both parties, meaning Keppel and SIMBA, we are working diligently to gain regulatory approval as we go through the process.

James Bales
Equities Research Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Perfect.

Operator

Thank you. Once again, if you do wish to ask a question, please press star one. Your next question is a follow-up from Siraj Ahmed from Citigroup. Please go ahead.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

Hi. It's Siraj again. Just Richard, just on a follow-up to James' question on the timeline. Is there any sort of indication that's been given to you on potential completion timelines, or is it just open-ended from your perspective?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

I don't think it's appropriate for us to set any expectations with regards to the timeline. All I would say right now is that the engagements on a joint basis with the regulator, they are ongoing. I think that's very important in terms of keeping the dialogue going.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

Okay. Got it. On that as well, there was a mention. I think there's a six-month sort of agreement with Keppel in terms of the deal, you know, completing. Is that in sort of end of March, I think. I'm guessing that's been extended. Is that fair, given that both of you are talking with IMDA?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

We are aware of it, and both parties are working to extend it.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

Okay. Got it. Last one, just on CapEx. I know that sometimes there is seasonality. I think first half was only SGD 19 million. You're reiterating the CapEx guidance. I'm just wondering whether it is sort of you're keeping the second half seasonality because of the impending deal or is it just timing related?

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

A lot of it is timing related because we initially spend more on CapEx, for example, building out our 5G coverage. Obviously, we are keeping in mind the need for us to continue to support our growth, and that is why we're keeping to the SGD 50 million-SGD 55 million CapEx expectation for the financial year.

Siraj Ahmed
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup

Wonderful. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Tan for closing remarks.

Richard Tan
CEO, SIMBA Telecom

Thank you all for your time and for engaging in our business update. The board and management of TUAS Limited deeply appreciates your continued support. We look forward to delivering further value and growth in the months ahead. Thank you.

Operator

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

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