Samart targets Bt27.5 billion revenue
Samart Corp group has set a consolidated revenue target of around Bt27.5 billion this year with estimated profit of over Bt1 billion, the firm's president, Watchai Vilailuck, said yesterday.
The group estimates consolidated revenue last year was Bt22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 35-45 per cent. Earlier, it targeted total revenue last year of around Bt25 billion. The group has yet to announce its fourth-quarter results for 2011.
The group is exploring business opportunities in many areas in Laos and Burma, Watchai said.
Samart is in talks to take over two companies, one of which is in the utilities business. He declined to give their names. The talks are expected to conclude this quarter. Neither company targeted for take-over is a listed firm. If the deals are finalised, Samart is expected to spend Bt1 billion on the deals, he said.
Samart’s mobile-phone distributor and content provider Samart i-Mobile (SIM) targets 1 million 3G service subscribers this year, up from around 220,000 at present. The growth is in line with TOT’s expansion of its nation-wide 3G network. SIM is one of five partners of TOT providing 3G services on TOT’s network in Greater Bangkok.
TOT will complete the roll-out of 3,000 base stations for its new 3G network in 18 provinces next month, and is expected to have 5,320 bases nation-wide in May. It is considering expanding the network to 20,000 bases over the next two years.
Loxley-Samart consortium won a Bt15.99-billion deal from TOT last April to roll out 5,320 bases for the 3G network nation-wide.
TOT will soon present to the agency’s board its new business model of providing 3G services via partnerships.
Watchai hopes SIM will become TOT’s main strategic partner in providing the 3G service.
Samart’s mobile and multimedia business group led by SIM this year targets revenue of Bt9 billion, up 10.5 per cent year on year. SIM aims to sell 3.5 million units of its own i-Mobile brand handsets this year.
Samart’s information and communications technology solution-provision business group, led by Samart Telcoms, targets revenue of Bt15 billion this year, up over 20 per cent year on year. It intends to bid for projects worth over Bt40 billion this year, and is confident of winning at least half of them. Samart’s related businesses, such as its outsourcing-service business, target revenue of Bt2.2 billion this year, up more than 10 per cent year on year.
Its utilities-service business group targets Bt1.3 billion in revenue this year.
