Briefs

The incentives are to support the government's policy to create a life-long learning society through reading, said deputy director-general Chitmanee Suwannapool. The tax incentives will draw support from the private sector in promoting reading, she added.

The incentives cover the donation of books or electronic reading material to libraries or other centres that serve school and university students as well as the general public.

A 100-per-cent deduction was also announced for items going to corporate libraries. Each accounting year, spending eligible for the deduction must not exceed Bt50,000.

Sansiri presales |Bt3 bn

Sansiri saw presales worth Bt3 billion last month thanks to strong demand for residential projects both in Bangkok and upcountry.

It booked presales of 60 per cent of the total project value of Bt1.2 billion of Chelona Khao Tao in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

The company plans to launch 15 new projects upcountry worth Bt10 billion during the rest of the year. That should drive its presales to the full-year target of Bt15.6 billion.

The company recorded presales worth Bt13 billion in the first four months of the year.

Big C reports |Q1 results

Big C Supercenter enjoyed growth in all areas in the first quarter of the year, reflecting the company’s successful business operations and synergies from integration, said Rumpa Kumhomreun, chief financial officer and vice president for accounting and finance.

Big C’s first-quarter net sales were Bt26.48 billion, an increase of Bt1.65 billion or 6.7 per cent over the same period last year. Gross profit in the quarter was Bt3.97 billion, an increase of Bt430 million or 12.1 per cent year on year. Net income attributable to the parents??? then rose to Bt1.77 billion, an increase of Bt836 million or 88.8 per cent from Bt941 million in the same period last year.

Energy efficiency backed

Kasikornbank has teamed up with the William J Clinton Foundation and three companies in a scheme aimed at boosting energy efficiency and reducing impacts on global warming.

KBank executive vice president Songpol Chevapanyaroj said energy efficiency would be the key to lower energy costs, particularly when the fuel tariff is raised by 30 satang per unit. He said the higher tariff for the May-August round would increase production costs by 6-7 per cent. Due to suffer the most are those in highly competitive industries that cannot pass the burden to consumers, or those for which energy accounts for more than 10 per cent of production costs, such as companies in the cold-storage, electronics, hotel and hospital sectors.

Aside from a Bt3-billion loan facility to finance energy-efficiency investment projects, KBank through assistance from the four partners will offer a standardised energy-performance contract. Aside from the Clinton Foundation, the three partners are Azbil (Thailand), Philips Electronics (Thailand) and Trane (Thailand).

Air traffic up in March

The International Air Transport Association announced global traffic results for March showing that total passenger demand rose 7.6 per cent and freight demand climbed 0.3 per cent compared with the same month last year. – The Nation