UBS moves Freenet to 'neutral' after shares climb 30%, predicts TV unit slowdown

freenet AG

14/02/2025 12:06

** UBS cuts Freenet AG  FNTGn.DE  to "neutral" from "buy"
after recent German telecoms firm's share price rise, and as it
expects weaker subscriber growth for its TV unit Waipu TV
    ** UBS sees Freenet's wins in both German mobile and TV
market as largely being priced in, with the stock up 30% over
the past 12 months and close to high of EUR 32
    ** It expects O2's launch of its own TV product to
negatively impact subscriber growth as O2 will stop reselling
Waipu TV
    ** It thus sees subscriber growth slowing at Waipu TV in Q4
to 115k from 191k in Q2 and 132k in Q3, and says it thinks Q4
results are likely to be "mixed"
    ** UBS also points to historical seasonal weaknesses of
Freenet's stock in Q2 after it goes ex-dividend in May
    ** Freenet's shares are down 3.7 % and if losses hold they
will see their worst day since August
    

 (Reporting by Simon Ferdinand Eibach)
 ((simonferdinand.eibach@thomsonreuters.com))