Samart getting into waste management

Its board yesterday approved Samart U-Trans Co (SUT), a wholly owned subsidiary, establishing three new subsidiaries. One of them, Samart Waste2Power, which was capitalised at Bt50 million, will manage municipal solid waste and landfill waste and produce fuel from solid waste. It is wholly owned by SUT. 

Samart president Watchai Wilailuck said it was in talks with municipalities in four provinces on offering the service in deals worth around Bt1 billion in total. He did not name the provinces but said the deals were expected to be concluded within two months. 

Meanwhile, Watchai said around 17 per cent of the 1 million digital TV equipment vouchers used so far were redeemed at Samart. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission last month gave away 4.6 million vouchers to households to buy either a digital set-top box or a television set with built-in digital tuner. 

According to Samart’s third-quarter financial results, net profit attributable to the equity holders of the company was Bt350.90 million, down 10.65 per cent year on year because of the seasonal effect on handset sales and a slowdown in ICT (information and communications technology) and service businesses. The net profit attributable to the equity holders of the company for the first nine months was Bt1.166 billion, an increase of 5.02 per cent year on year.