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RS lowers revenue target but expects profit gain
RS has lowered its 2013 revenue target to Bt3.7 billion from Bt4 billion but maintained its net-profit forecast on the high margins from satellite television, said chief financial officer Darm Nana.
He said the revision was due to the economic slowdown, which has affected advertising revenue for its media business.
The sluggish economy has also had an impact on show business, obliging the company to delay realising revenue from this business to 2014 from this year.
He said the company’s net profit this year was expected to record a new high from Bt281.18 million last year thanks to the improvement of satellite-TV margins.
BDMS board approves 4 new subsidiaries
Bangkok Dusit Medical Services’ board of directors has approved the establishment of four new subsidiaries, one of which will operate Samitivej Chon Buri hospital with registered capital of Bt600 million.
The three other companies are subsidiaries of N Health Asia Pte, itself a subsidiary of BDMS. These are N Health Myanmar with total registered capital of US$500,000 (Bt16 million), N Health Laos with registered capital of $200,000 and N Health Cambodia with registered capital of $320,000.
Laos power JV signs agreements
Nam Ngiep 1 Power, a joint venture among Egat International, Lao Holding State Enterprise and KPIC Netherlands BV, signed concession and electricity purchase agreements for Nam Ngiep 1 hydropower plant in Laos on Tuesday.
The agreements include the concession contract between Nam Ngiep 1 Power and the Laotian government, the power purchase agreement between the company and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), and the PPA between the company and Electricite du Laos. The deals are meant ensure the energy security of both Laos and Thailand.
Jasmine appoints fund underwriters
Jasmine International has appointed Bualuang Securities and Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) as underwriters of its plan to set up an infrastructure fund.
This follows its board’s approval on Monday for the company to proceed with establishment of the fund for broadband Internet business, worth between Bt50 billion and Bt70 billion.
Cargill to upgrade Saraburi plant
Cargill is investing US$10 million (Bt320 million) to upgrade its integrated poultry-processing facility in Saraburi, which produces a range of cooked poultry products for food-service chains, convenience stores, food manufacturers, retailers and distributors across Asia, Europe and North America.
Bank Indonesia raises reference rate to 7% in unscheduled move
Bank Indonesia raised its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point in an unscheduled move as it sought to tame inflation at a four-year high and shore up a slumping currency.
The central bank increased the reference rate to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent, it said after holding a board of governors meeting in Jakarta yesterday that came before the next scheduled policy review. It also raised the deposit facility rate by half a point to 5.25 per cent.
The rupiah spot rate reached 10,955 a dollar on Wednesday, the weakest level since April 2009, as a package of central bank and government measures announced on August 23 failed to stem outflows. Indonesia, contending with easing growth at a time when higher fuel costs have spurred inflation pressures, joins Brazil in raising borrowing costs this week.
“The outlook for monetary policy depends largely on what happens to the currency,” said Gareth Leather, a London-based Asia economist at Capital Economics.
“We believe that the current bout of currency volatility will prove short-lived and that a prolonged reversal of capital flows is unlikely. In such circumstances, further aggressive rate hikes in Indonesia are unlikely.”
Findings due on licence probe
A committee of the National Anti-Corruption Commission is expected to reach a conclusion in the middle of next month on its inquiry into the auction of 3G-2.1GHz licences last October by the Telecom Committee.
Pakdi Posiri, chairman of the NACC committee, said yesterday that his panel finished questioning all the five members of the Telecom Committee, which is under the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, about its auction process.
The NACC had received complaints from many parties that the Telecom Committee failed to ensure meaningful price competition among the bidders and it endorsed the bidding outcomes in a rushed manner.
The three winners of the spectrum auction were Advanced Wireless Network of Advanced Info Service, DTAC TriNet of Total Access Communication and Real Future of True Corp. They have all already kicked off 2.1GHz service.
High price hits jasmine rice sales
Thailand has lost market share for its jasmine or “Hom Mali” rice to other countries’ fragrant rice due to the high price.
Kittiphan Laopraphatsorn, sales manager of Siam Grains, one of the country’s leading fragrant rice exporters, said Thai jasmine rice is now quoted at 40-50 per cent above its competitors. This has caused difficulty for rice exporters.
The Kingdom is forfeiting the fragrant rice market to neighbouring countries, mainly Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Their price is about US$550-$600 a tonne against $1,100 a tonne for Thai jasmine rice.
Not only have importers cut back on orders for Thai jasmine rice, but also general restaurants as they want to reduce costs. Only high-end restaurants still buy Thai jasmine rice, he added.
