National BankExpecting the eventual close of Rogers Communications Inc.’s $20-billion acquisition of Shaw Communications Inc. to lead to even more intense competition among Canada’s telecommunications companies, National Bank Financial analyst Adam Shine made some target adjustments. He cut his Telus Corp. ( “outperform”) target to $31 from $34, below the $32.56 average.
“Telus has enjoyed a premium valuation given its verticalization strategy in Wireline as a point of differentiation and given relatively less competition faced out West,” said Mr. Shine. “After the successful IPO of Telus International whose valuation has since materially reset, we await future monetization opportunities related to Health and Agriculture. Telus continues to execute well, has completed its fibre build with FCF to jump and coming benefits from copper decommissioning to be realized along with other savings and LifeWorks synergies, but a new state of competition is coming pending the closing of the Shaw & Freedom deals, and we look for the new CRTC chair to pursue a more pro-consumer tack than the pro-industry skew of her predecessor.”