TA Index climbs 2.8%

Telecom Asia, May, 2006

The TA Index extended its gain for the second consecutive month, adding 2.8% or 36 points, as most Asian markets closed higher ahead of the Easter holiday. Gainers outnumbered losers 18 to 10, while two ended flat.

The top gainer was Dacom, which surged 20.5% further, as the Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose to a record high last month. Other big gainers were Samart Telecom, China Mobile and Telkom Indonesia. China Mobile jumped 17.8% to a record high, as investors continue to buy in the Chinese mobile heavyweight last month.

SmarTone, also listed in Hong Kong, recovered most of its 8.5% loss the previous month with a 8% incease.

Pacific Internet climbed 5.2% after the ISP said its wireless VAS will continue to increase its profit in 2006.

Telekom Malaysia, which is bidding for a 3G license in Sri Lanka, rebounded slightly after falling 5% in the previous month, boosted partly on late buying support last month.

Markets in the Philippines, New Zealand, and Malaysia all ended higher.

On the downside, APT Satellite sank more than 12%, reversing a similar gain the previous month.

AIS also lost ground, declining 11%, as the Thai mobile operators launched several promotions, including a price cut on mobile calls as a "short-term" strategy to counterattack rivals and help boost its subscriber growth. Shin Satellite, meanwhile, slipped 3.2%.

Elsewhere, Taiwan Mobile added 3.3% to previous gains while incumbent Chunghwa Telecom advanced slightly, on its better-than-expected quarterly results. Far EasTone extended its losses, falling another 2.3%.

The market in Japan closed mixed, with KDDI rising 3.7% further while NTT slid 3.6% after gaining 2.9% the previous month. NTT DoCoMo, meanwhile, lost 2.3% despite overtaking rival KDDI in net mobile subscriber growth in the last fiscal year ending March 31, for the first time in three years.

TA30 INDEX        1,328
UP                 2.8%
RISING STOCKS        18
FALLING STOCKS       10
UNCHANGED             2

Company                Country    % change

1  Dacom               KR          20.5
2  Samart Telecom      TH          18.7
3  China Mobile        HK          17.8
4  Telkom Indonesia    ID          16.2
5  SmarTone            HK          8
6  PLDT                PH          7.4
7  Globe Telecom       PH          5.9
8  Pacific Internet    us          5.2
9  China Netcom        HK          5.2
10 KDDI                JP          3.7
11 Taiwan Mobile       TW          3.3
12 Indosat             ID          3.1
13 Telecom NZ          NZ          2.7
14 Korea Telecom       KR          2.7
15 Telekom Malaysia    MY          2.6
16 China Telecom       HK          1.8
17 SingTel Optus       AU          1.3
18 Chunghwa Telecom    TW          0.5
19 China Unicom        HK          0
39 PCCW                HK          0
21 Hutchison           HK         -0.1
22 SK Telecom          KR         -1.
23 SingTel             SG         -1.1
24 NTT DoCoMo          JP         -2.3
25 FarEastone          TW         -2.3
20 Shinawatra Sat      TH         -3.3
27 NTT                 JP         -3.6
28 Telstra             AU         -3.9
29 AIS                 TH         -11
30 APT Sat             HK         -12.2