MBK divides investment among 8 key business units

MBK Group is investing Bt3.2 billion on its eight key business units to drive growth by 6 per cent to Bt9 billion this year from Bt8.5 billion in 2011.

The 20-year-old corporation is also studying the feasibility of expanding abroad once the Asean Economic Community is fully implemented in three years.

Chief executive officer Suvait Theeravachirakul said yesterday that the company would use about Bt200 million from its capital-expenditure budget to renovate the MBK Shopping Centre and Bt500 million to develop the second phase of the 40,000-square-metre extended mall beside the Paradise Park complex on Srinakarin Road. Expected to take about two years, construction on the new mall will start by the end of this year. Situated on a 6-rai (1-hectare) plot, this mall is in partnership with Siam Piwat. 

The company’s major businesses include shopping malls with 30 per cent of revenue, rice with 30 per cent, financial services with 10 per cent, hotels and hospitality with 12 per cent, real-estate development with 5 per cent and golf courses with 3 per cent. 

In three years, the company wants to see more business from key units such as hotels, real estate, shopping malls and financial services. For example, revenue from the hotel business would represent 18 per cent of the total, while real estate should be 10 per cent and financial services 15 per cent. 

Yesterday the company launched its new corporate brand identity to group its subsidiaries into eight business units – shopping centres, hotels and tourism, real estate, rice, golf, financial services, supporting businesses, and other. 

The new image aims to boost the confidence of investors, traders and customers, Suvait said.