Headlining this roster for a second consecutive year are Edward Hill-Wood and his Morgan Stanley teammates in Dubai, London and Moscow. The three analysts report on 30 regional technology, media and telecommunications companies, including six media players, and expect to expand coverage before year’s end. They are optimistic about the prospects for their sector. “Growth is underpinned by a rapid acceleration in mobile broadband and user engagement,” says Hill-Wood, 40. Moreover, “greater investment in distribution, logistics and payment platforms fuels growth in e-commerce, payments and classifieds — and we expect offline dollars will continue to migrate to advertising funded search and social models.” The Morgan Stanley researchers have maintained their longheld bullishness on Naspers, a South Africa–based multinational media player, and Yandex, which is headquartered in the Netherlands and operates that country’s largest search engine, in line with their overweight position on Internet companies in emerging Europe, Middle East & Africa. “The recent global derating of growth stocks presents attractive entry levels,” the team leader advises. Over the 12 months through May, Naspers’ stock rocketed 60 percent, to 116.67 rand, while Yandex’s American depositary receipts jumped 13.8 percent, to $31.14. Over the same period the broader regional market rose 8.7 percent. This year, Hill-Wood also co-leads, with Cesar Tiron, the No. 1 squad in Telecommunications. |
The 2014 Emerging EMEA Research Team: Information Technology & Media, No. 1: Edward Hill-Wood & team
