Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Zhonghua Telecom conference call for the company's fourth quarter 2023 operating results. During the presentation, all lines will be on listen-only mode. When the briefing is finished, directions for submitting your questions will be given in the question and answer session. For your information, this conference call is now being broadcast live over the internet. Webcast replay will be available within an hour after the conference is finished. please visit CHT IR website, www.cht.com.tw slash IR, under the IR calendar section. And now I would like to turn it over to Ms. Angela Tsai, the Director of Investor Relations. Thank you. Ms. Tsai, please go ahead.

Thank you. I'm Angela Tsai, Assistant Vice President of Financial Departments for Zhonghua Telecom. Welcome to our fourth quarter 2023 result conference call. Joining me on the call today are our Chairman Harrison Guo, our President Ivan Lin, and Vincent Cheng, our Chief Financial Officer. During today's call, management will begin by providing the Chairman's message, our business overview, a discussion of our segment performance, and the financial results, followed by management guidance for 2024. After, we will move on to the question and answer portion of the call. On slide two, please read our disclaimers and notes concerning forward-looking statements. Now, without further delay, I will turn the call over to our chairman. Chairman Guo, please go ahead.

Thank you, Angela, and hello, everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarter results conference call, and I would like to begin with our strong financial performance for 2023. we concluded 2023 with an EPS of 4.76 NT dollars. While both revenue and the EPS exceeded the high end of our four-year guidance and hit six-year highs, we are proud to beat the four-year guidance and also commit to investors to give all our efforts for this year. During the first quarter of last year, Taiwan's telecom industry entered a new three-player landscape, while Zhonghua Telecom continues to be the largest telecom, followed by the other two players. Our market cap represents 60% of the industry market value. Our revenue share in Taiwan mobile market also exceeded 40%. In addition, we have the most 5G subscribers in Taiwan with more than 3 million, not to mention the overall mobile subscriber number. All the states highlights that our leading position far outweighs our peers. At the same time, we are happy to see the domestic industry evolution and believe that under the current structure, value creation for customers will continue to remain the industry focus and digital transformation will continue to develop and serve as one of the key growth drivers. Keeping our number one position, we reiterate our confidence in widening our leading against the peers due to our solid strength and growth momentum. In 2023, our mobile post-pay subscriber numbers continues its year-over-year growth throughout the whole year, despite the total number of mobile sims in Taiwan decreased in 2023. We also achieved the highest mobile service revenue in the industry. Our success in attracting subscribers speaks for Our network strength, including the most extensive mobile coverage, largest capacity, and fastest speeds, supported by our most numerous mobile aid stations, are already in use. We believe our mobile subscriber gains and revenue growth in 2023 will continue and roll over to 2024. Our competitive advantages also come from our cross-sector business wins, including our growing broadband business, accelerating technology momentum monetization, and ongoing investment in content and and digital ecosystems. With our continuous efforts and the business development, we maintain optimistic about positive outlook for the next year ahead. Last, I am pleased to share that we are establishing a subsidiary in Germany in the first half of 2024. which will serve as the forerunner for international business expansion in Europe. This marks a meaningful milestone of our international expansion. Now, let me hand the call over to Ivan for the business update of the fourth quarter of 2023. Thank you, Chairman Gouraud.

And hello, everyone. Now, please flip to page five for an update on our outperforming in the mobile service. As of November 2023, we maintained our leading position in Taiwan's mobile market with the largest subscriber share of the 30 million. 7.1%. Meanwhile, we were excited to see our revenue share reach a remarkable milestone, existing 40% in the third quarter and hitting 40.2% by the end of last November. Further widening our against our peers. Our existing revenue share over subscriber share increased to 3.1%. Why is this encouraging? In addition, our mobile service revenue in the fourth quarter recorded 5.8%. And year-over-year increase in maintenance growth for 33 consecutive months. While our post-paid output report 4.3% year-over-year increase continued consecutive growth for 11 quarter, this increase were mainly due to 5G migration upsells, international roaming recovery, and the increase of your postpaid subscriber numbers. Thanks to 5G adoption, we see the average month see the uplift from customers who migrate from 4G to 5G increase to 49% in the fourth quarter, further from the 44% in the third quarter, maintaining inspiring trajectory. Going forward, we expect the overall 5G penetration in Taiwan will continue to steadily develop in 2024. We believe, like Zhonghua, we believe we will benefit most given our number one position based on 5G quality and ranked by the well-known international institutes. Let's move on to slide six for update on our fifth broadband business. In the fourth quarter, we are glad to see the positive performance in the fixed broadband sector. If the revenue in our pool increased by 2.6% and 1.1% and respected on a year-over-year basis, many attribute to the increase the higher speed migration. Our size apps for service of the 300 megabits per second or higher continue to be an appropriate amount and over speed mixed since the second quarter of 2023. It's year over year growth in the fourth quarter quarter achieved 32% maintaining the double digital goals. It's worth noting that our speed profile optimization promoted by the market incentive also worked in upgrading speed from below 100 megabits per second to transition to higher speed above the 100 megabits per second, we see the 12% year-over-year increase in science apps for service at 100 megabits per second or higher. As the optimization strategy will go on in 2024, we are confident in seeing the upward trend Our trend of the fixed broadband output continues going forward. Now let's move on to the performance of our customer-centric business group. Slide 8 presents the performance of our CBG group. total CBG revenue rose by 4.4% year over year. The increase was mainly driven by the notable increase of our performing mobile service revenue at 5.3% increase on year. Going to the continued 5G migration and the prospective subscribers increased the beta and sales of iPhone and 16 series and the stable growth of the fixed broadband revenue with 3.3% of this year. While fixed line revenue decreased, in addition, I would like to highlight our notable international looming revenue in 2023, which increased by 270% year-over-year and has already the surge to exist pre-COVID-19 levels. In addition to busy international activities in 2023, our popular global looming package also contribute to the success. We covered 125 countries to offer customers with the convenience of using one package to enjoy transnational data roaming during one trip. We expect strong demand from customers who will contribute. We will continue to drive the growth of our roaming business in 2024. CBG income before tax decreased by 0.2% year-over-year, going to the asset impairment loss accompanied with the phase-out of the 3G network. Excluding the one-time factor, CBG income before tax increased by 3.6% on-year. Slide 9 further illustrates our consumer business growth highlight. In the fourth quarter, our multiple package continued to grow on a yearly basis. The subscriber numbers of the mobile and fixable bank and Wi-Fi service altogether demonstrate a 14% quarter-over-quarter growth. Enter the seventh consecutive quarter of the double digital quarter-over-quarter growth. In terms of the individual and home-centric applications, we were happy to recruit subscribers again as well. Our video subscribers continued to grow steadily by 3.7% year-over-year, mainly due to the rich content provided on both MOD and Hami videos, in particular the exclusive and award-winning dramas. In addition, we observed an increasing demand for CBG cyber security service as the consumers have become accustomed to assessing the internet across mobile and SIFT programs in the post-pandemic era. In the fourth quarter, our customer cyber security Sign-ups increased by 19% year-over-year and demonstrate potential for further growth. Going forward, we will continue to develop consumer application to growth both application and telecom revenue in the sector. Please turn to slide 10. for an overview of our enterprise business group performance. In the first quarter, EVG revenue increased by 2.5%, primarily attributed to substantial 13% increase in other revenue driven by the equipment and sales from EVG. subsidiaries and launch of the high-end mobile phones, contributing to a boost in the sales revenue. Additionally, ICT business revenue increased by 2.3%, and prepared by a rising in the project revenue, sustained growth in cyber security service revenue, and robust expansion in AIoT service revenue. In a further mode, EVG mobile service revenue increased by 3%, fueled by the 5G upselling and recovery of international roaming revenue. Although 6.9% revenue sliding decreased year-over-year, mainly due to votes declined, data commutation revenue and broadband access revenue continued to grow. In spite of the revenue growth, EVG report and 6.2% year-over-year decrease of income before tax, mainly because of the fixed votes declined and the asset impairment loss related relating to 3G phase-out. Excluding the one-time impairment, the EBG's income before tax decreased by 4.8% one year. Most importantly, ICT business revenues continue to increase, and profit margins keep improving. Slide 11 illustrates our enterprise business highlights. In the first quarter, our AIoT and cybersecurity business demonstrated robust growth, while the total emerging enterprise business revenue of our major applications decreased by 2.7% year-over-year. Due to the higher based on the revenue recognition in the peer year relating to e-learning and fintech projects. Specifically, cybersecurity business achieved 7.3% growth in the fourth quarter, driving by increasing service demands from our enterprise clients. Coming upward as the consecutive quarter on a year-over-year basis, furthermore, our AIoT business also experienced a year-over-year increase only to revenue injection from a large project relating to smart energy and intelligent buildings. Furthermore, although our cloud service revenue and IDC revenue decreased on a year base, due to one time the project recognized the last year that created a high revenue base, we are glad to see our recurrent revenues of these two service-delivered stable goals. One year-over-year basis, recurring revenue from the international public cloud service by 20, and it goes by 20 percent, where recurring revenue of the IDC goes 15 percent in the four fourth quarter. In terms of applications in the fourth quarter, we achieved a milestone by establishing Taiwan's most extensive 5G network slicing and verification field in Kaohsiung to support innovation, development, and successful delivery of multiple innovative and cybersecurity and inclusion and divide the storage and cloud solution and captain to the diversity needs of our clients. Slide 12 illustrates our international business performance. In the fourth quarter, Total revenue and income before tax of IBG increased about 33% and 39% year-over-year, respectively. The impressive growth was mainly infused by the growth in demand for emerging business, including IBC and cloud services. From our global kind, during the quarter, we see the ICT project completion and continue to find growing opportunities for global expansion. We are great to announce that we signed an MOU with NTT Corporation in the fourth quarter. And to the third quarter, accelerate the realization of the innovative optical and wireless network service. Looking forward, we are optimistic to see the growth momentum blow over into 2024. In addition, the SJC2 international undersea cable is expected to launch service this year. We're looking forward to capitalizing our undersea cable asset. I mean, a growing opportunity from the international OTT service providers. Now, I would like to turn the call to Vincent

Thank you, President Ivan. Good afternoon, everyone. Now I will present a financial summary of our fourth quarter results in 2023 and financial guidance for 2024. Let's begin with slide 14, income statement highlights. During the fourth quarter in 2023, total revenue increased by 4% compared to the same quarter last year, primarily attributed by growing ICT business revenue, sales revenue, mobile service revenue, and broadband service revenue. Income from operations and net income decreased by 4.6% and 1.7% on-year, respectively, mainly due to the impairment loss of telecom equipment caused by the failure of 3G network and the impairment loss of investment property. Excluding the impact of aforementioned one-time impairment losses, Income from operations and net income increased by 2.2% and 7.2% on-year, respectively. For the full-year results, total revenue increased by 3% year-over-year as a result of solid growth of our mobile, ICT, and broadband services. Income from operations decreased by 1% due to the one-time impairment losses mentioned above, excluding the one-time defects. Income from operations grew by 0.6%. Net income increased by 1.2% on year. EPS rose from 4.7 to 4.76. It's noteworthy that both of our revenue and EPS reached a six-year high and have maintained growth momentum for four consecutive years. Now, move on to page 15 for balance sheet highlights. As of December 31st of 2023, total assets increased by 0.2% on-year, mainly due to the increase in current assets, long-term investments, and other assets, which offset the decrease in intangible assets. Total liabilities decreased mildly on-year, primarily attributable to the decrease in accounts payable. Additionally, debt ratio decreased slightly and debt net debt over EBITDA remained zero. Altogether, we continue to maintain a strong balance sheet with great financial flexibility to fully support our operations and business expansions and swiftly adapt to fast-changing macroeconomic climate. Page 16 provides the summary of our cash flows. For 2023, we continue to generate stable and solid cash flows from operations, while our operating cash flows were down by 1.8% relative to the prior year. The decrease was mainly due to income tax payment and settlement of accounts payable. Capital expenditures decreased by 2.5% on year, of which mobile-related capex was reduced by 19.3%. whereas non-mobile CapEx increased by 10.6%. The latter was largely attributable to greater IDC investment. On top of that, free cash flows decreased by 1.4% on-year. Collectively, our robust balance sheet together with solid operating cash flows enable us to seize business opportunities amid trends of digital and sustainability transformations. and further create sustainable and long-term value for our shareholders. On slide 17, the table presents financial results against management guidance. In the fourth quarter of 2023, total revenue was about on par with our revenue projection. Profit-related metrics fell short of our expectations, largely attributed to the higher maintenance and material expenses. impairment losses on the phase-out of 3G network and investment property. For the four-year results, our revenue and profit-related measures mostly exceeded the high-end target of our four-year guidance, driven by our steady-going core business and improved margin of ICT business. That concludes the overview of our 2023 financial results. Moving on to slide 18, please see our guidance for 2024. Looking ahead, total revenue for 2024 compared to 2023 is expected to increase by between 2.4% and 3.1%, primarily driven by growth momentum in our core business. Well-received 5G services and speed upgrades, promotion packages of fixed broadband are expected to continuously lift subscriber numbers and our pool. ICT business also contributes as we expect growing emerging services to cater to customers' demands for digital transformation. Operating costs and expenses are expected to rise between 4% and 4.6%, as a result of the investments in talents and infrastructure that support future business development in core and emerging businesses. Given these projections, we expect our EPS to be in the range between 4.6 and 4.8. As for capital spending, we budget about $34 billion for 2024. as our 5G network is close to its full deployment and its number one quality has been consistently endorsed by open signal and speed tests for consecutive years. Our mobile-related CapEx is expected to decrease by 14% on-year, which continues its downtrend since 2021 for three consecutive years. Non-mobile-related CapEx, which consists of investment in fixed-line networks IDC and submarine cables is expected to increase by 24.7% on year to support business expansion in emerging business. Now I would like to turn the call over to Chairman Harrison for awards and recognition.

Thank you, Vincent. On slide 19 is our awards and ESG achievement highlights in the first quarter. In 2023, Soha Telecom was recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index as number one of the world-class telecommunication sustainability leaders, as well as the Emerging Market Index, reflecting recognition from investors for our ESG practices. We also received a AA ESG rating from MSCI. In addition, we were reaffirmed the highest AA credit rating by S&P Global Ratings, continue to our exclusive leading position among global telcos. Besides to enhance interest alignment between top management team, and the shareholders, we are the only telecom operator in Taiwan to follow the international best practice of implementing the incentive compensation callback policy. In addition, as we implemented an internal carbon pricing mechanism of $1,600 per ton In 2023, we are delighted to report that the internal carbon fee collected for 2023 was approximately $1 billion NT. All used to encourage carbon reduction initiatives and technologies. In the first quarter, we also completed carbon credit procurement to further utilize the product carbon neutralization. Meanwhile, we initiated the first environmental footprint centers of network equipment in Taiwan to facilitate a low carbon supply chain. This concludes our prepared remarks. Thank you for your attention. At this time, I would like to open our conference call for questions.

Thank you Chairman Guo. And ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin our question and answer session. If you have a question for any of today's speakers, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad and you will enter the queue. After you are announced, please ask your question. And when you are speaking, please be louder or closer to the microphone. If you find that your question has been answered before it is your turn to speak, please press star 2 to cancel the question. And you are also welcome to send questions via checkbox on the webcast page. We will begin with the questions from telephone line and then move to the queries from the web page. If you would like to ask the question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Thank you. And our first question is coming from Neil Anderson of HSBC. Go ahead, please.

Good afternoon. I have two questions, please. The first one is on revenue, and specifically on the enterprise business group and the emerging enterprise application revenue. So that fell last year, I think, because you had a high base of one-time revenue in 2022. Do you face the same situation for this year, or do you think that can return to growth with a large amount of recurring revenue without the one-time factor? That's the first question. And the second one is on the guidance for the cost increase and the investment in growth business. Are you able to give any more color on, I assume most of that would be going to the enterprise business group, but I also wonder how much is going to the international business group, given that you're opening up in Germany and I think other markets as well. So could you give any additional comments on that? Thank you.

Okay, so thanks, Neil, for your questions. So for the first question about the enterprise business, the revenue in the enterprise business segment, right? So in 2022, we have a high pace because we have several big projects. And for the 2024, whether we will face such situation again. So we think this... this situation will moderate. So we still, for the ICT in the enterprise business group, we expect it's going to grow in quite a reasonable rate. So this is the answer for your questions. The second one is the guidance for the cost increases, right? So What we will say is, as I just mentioned in the PowerPoint, for the 2024, we will keep investing in talents and infrastructures, and also we will make investment in contents because that will attract more subscribers, and that will help to develop our own platforms and attract more customers and return more customers. So this is the area where we will put in our resources. So the cost in relation to contents will also go up. And some of the cost will go up is related to revenue. For example, like sales revenue, such that our cost of goods sold will also go up. And for the international business, actually we will expect the International business segment will also go very well because we have the footprint in Europe, and we expect there will be more demand from our customers from overseas markets. Thank you.

Understood. Thank you.

Thank you, Neil. Next question is from Sarah Wong, UBS. Go ahead, please.

Thank you. I have two questions. First is on EBG revenue. So I think management just mentioned that the ICT revenue in fourth quarter increased as well as the margin. So just wondering why the income before tax, including the 3G impairment, still declined by mid-fingal digit. And then second question is on the CAPEX guidance for 2024. So I noticed that non-mobile CapEx is guided to increase quite meaningfully. So could you elaborate more on where are the key investment area? Thank you.

Okay, so thanks, Sarah. For the EBG, right, so in fact, for the ICT business, for the revenue and also for the margin actually is improving. But why the overall, the segment, the profit decline? One, as we just mentioned, the 3G, the impairment, and also the long-distance call. Yeah, that also matters. And also, we charge internally. We have the internal carbon fees. that also affects the bottom line in the enterprise business segment. So that's for your question one. So for your second question for the CAPEX guidance, right, for the 2024, so basically for the non-mobile CAPEX, because it increased a lot, that's mainly attributed to IDC. Because we have several constructions ongoing, so that... that actually accounts for a big chunk of the investments. And also, as I just mentioned, the submarine cables, and also for the fixed line network, that's also the regular items we have for the non-mobile CapEx. Thank you.

Got it. Just a quick follow-up on the IDC revenue. So in fourth quarter, the total IDC revenue declined, although the recurring IDC revenue increased. So just wondering, could you give an example of what's the non-recurring IDC revenue? Thank you.

For the one time, because some are the set up, set up the revenue for our customers. For example, for some switch office, the cloud switch office, so that's one of the examples.

Got it. So theoretically for the IDC CapEx, that will bring recurring revenue, right?

Yes, yeah.

Okay, got it. Thank you.

Okay, next question comes from our internet. It's from Rob Lowe. Could you please elaborate more on the business plan for the German office Does the company plan to team up with European telecom companies for business expansion? Or the company plan to expand the exposure to European ICT services, et cetera? Thanks.

Thank you for your question. For 2024, we will continue to expand international outreach by mainly following Taiwanese clients' global footprint. and replicate our successful use cases in 5G private networks and smart cities to overseas market. In addition, Europe will be a new focus in 2024 as we have seen growing ICT demands from clients' global expansion in Europe. Therefore, we plan to set up a subsidiary in Frankfurt to provide business support. And we don't rule out the possibility to increase offices in different locations in Europe. Thank you.

Now, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Thank you. And you can also send questions via chat box on the webcast page. Thank you. And on the telephone, we have another question. which is from Rajesh Banjwani. JP Morgan, go ahead, please.

Thank you very much. A couple of questions. First, you mentioned that the increase in the non-mobile capex in 2024 is mainly due to IDC capex. Can you just give us some idea about what proportion of the total capex is going in IDC in 2024 versus 2023? Second, do you expect the non-mobile capex to remain at an elevated level after 2024, or do you expect it to decline after that? Lastly, can you give us some more idea about your international business expansion? What exactly are the kind of projects you are targeting in international markets? Thanks.

Okay, so for the first question, for the non-mobile, right, so actually the IDC investment increased by about 10% and more. So that's the increase in the non-mobile CapEx. And for the international projection and targets, so actually we don't disclose figures, but we do have some orders That's why we deploy our staff and resources overseas. Thank you.

Hi, just a follow-up on this. So I'm not asking for numbers. I'm like, what are the kind of projects you are likely to do in the international markets going forward? Can you give us some idea of that? And also, you said the IDC investment is increased by 10%, but your non-mobile CapEx is going up by 25%. which means that investment in non-IDC areas is probably even higher. So can you give us some breakup of that and also whether the CAPEX would like to remain at an elevated level beyond 2024 also?

For the CAPEX, right, so actually the undersea CAPE also increased a lot. So these are the two big ones. For the regular, like a fixed life, Actually, it just increased at a steady rate. And so for the international projects, right, so basically we help our customers to deploy their, not only the CT, but also ICT business in Europe and in U.S. and Japan, yeah, in these overseas areas. So currently we cater to many Taiwanese clients, but also we are expecting there will be more foreign customers, clients, to use our ICT services. So these are the main areas for the IPG. Thank you.

Got it, thanks. And can you also comment on whether the CAPEX is likely to remain at elevated level beyond 2024, or once your subsea cables is commissioned, the capex will fall in 2025?

Because for the 2025 and outwards, we haven't finalized the numbers, so we cannot give any indication or any prediction for the moment. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. We are now in question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, you can either press star one on your telephone keypad or submit your question through the webcast page. Thank you.

Okay, now we have another question from our chat box. Could you please give us the outlook on the ICT business outlook for 2024?

We will continually cultivate in our three major billion dollar service and many cloud IDC cybersecurity and IoT service in emerging sectors. And we also work on 5G applications and AI solutions to capture to increasing demand. Looking forward to 2024, we maintain a culturally optimistic outlook for our ICT business and are positive about achieving our fully Four years' guidance is our continue to see healthy order intake and project completion, and we will continue leverage our ICT capabilities to further enhance our ICT margin. And given the order intake in our pipeline, we expect the ICT revenue to deliver the positive growth year in 2024. Thanks for your question.

As a reminder, please press star 1 on your keypad if you would like to ask the question. And you can also send your questions via the chat box on the webcast page. Thank you. We are now in question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your keypad, or you can send your question via the chat box on the web page. Thank you. If there are no further questions at this point, I will turn it back over to Chairman Gou. Chairman Gou, please proceed.

Thank you for your participation. Happy New Year. Goodbye.

Thank you, Chairman Guo. And ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for your participation in Chonghua Telecom Conference. There will be a webcast replay within an hour. Please visit www.cht.com.tw slash IR under the IR calendar section. You may now disconnect. Thank you and goodbye.