Shares in BT (LSE: BT-A) have risen by around 2% today after the company released an encouraging set of third quarter results.
Underlying revenue increased by 4.7% versus the third quarter of the previous year, while adjusted earnings per share were 13% higher. This strong performance was at least partly due to a standout quarter from BT’s consumer division, with it capturing 71% of new broadband customers and with BT Mobile now having over 300,000 customers, the cross-selling opportunities are rapidly increasing.
Clearly, the acquisition of EE dominates BT’s recent news flow and as a result of the deal BT will adopt a new corporate structure. It will have six divisions and the change appears to be a sensible one in order to successfully accommodate EE into the business and allow BT to deliver on the efficiencies and synergies that form a key part of the deal.
As with all acquisitions, there are doubts surrounding the progress that will be made and how challenging it will be to integrate such a large business unit into BT. As such, and while BT’s shares have soared by 178% in the last five years, the risk/reward ratio doesn’t hold huge appeal with the company trading on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15.2.
Sky’s the limit
Also reporting recently was Sky (LSE: SKY). It’s also performing well and the combination with Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia has gone relatively smoothly, with the new entity being more stable and more financially sound than previously.
Although BT is set to dominate the quad play market due to its sheer size following the EE deal, Sky’s move into mobile is likely to have a positive impact on its bottom line. In fact, even in the current year Sky is forecast to increase its earnings by 13%. When this rate of growth is combined with its P/E ratio of 17.3 it equates to a price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 1.3, which is much more appealing than BT’s PEG ratio of 2.2.
As such, and with Sky already having delivered a successful combination with its European peers, it appears to be a better buy than BT.
Comeback kid?
However, with Talktalk (LSE: TALK) trading on a PEG ratio of just 0.3, it appears to offer the most capital gain potential. Of course, it may also be the riskiest since it’s still overcoming the effects of the hacking scandal from last year that will inevitably hurt its ability to win new customers. And with the competition from BT and Sky being high in what is a relatively new space (quad play is still a relatively new concept for most consumers), it could lose ground over the short run to its peers.
Despite this, Talktalk may prove to be the best investment. It doesn’t have a major acquisition to integrate and is already an established quad play operator. And with such a low PEG ratio, its shares could mount a comeback in 2016 and beyond.