Daiwa Research in a Jan 12 research report says: “SingTel’s stake in Bharti has increased by just 0.1 of a percentage point. Hence, we expect the earnings accretion resulting from the current transaction to be very small (less than 0.2% upside for our FY12 EPS forecast).

“The latest announcement supports our belief that SingTel could be a logical buyer in the event that Vodafone Group decides to divest its effective 4.4% shareholding in Bharti. That said, in our opinion, SingTel’s future course of action with regards to possible stake increases is difficult to predict, as we think such a move may require the consent of the Bharti Enterprises, the key indirect shareholder of Bharti.

“Sum-of-the-parts-derived six-month target price of $3.09. SingTel looks fairly valued to us, with the stock trading currently at a PER of 12.1x on our FY11 EPS forecast. MAINTAIN HOLD.”