MINT reports 52% profit rise
Play
Minor International (MINT) reported strong first-quarter net profit of Bt2.157 billion in the first quarter of the year, a 52-per-cent increase from the same period last year, mainly due to the robust performance of its core restaurant and hospitality bus
Thailand’s tourism sector has witnessed a major turnaround after adverse political events last year, with first-quarter arrivals growing by more than 20 per cent to a record high. MINT capitalised on this rebound.
In the first quarter, net profit of MINT’s hospitality business increased 67 per cent year on year, largely as a result of improved performance of Bangkok hotels, growth of residential sales and Anantara Vacation Club, as well as gains from business acquisitions relating to the Sun International transaction.
Tokio Marine’s 2014 income down
Tokio Marine Insurance
(Thailand) has announced direct written premium income of more than Bt7.412 billion in 2014, a 7.74-per-cent decrease from last year. Net profit was Bt416 million, up 37.6 per cent.
Direct written premium income for the first quarter of this year was Bt1.948 billion, a decrease of 7.4 per cent year on year. Net profit was Bt125 million, up 11.8 per cent.
Its target for this year’s direct written premiums is Bt8.2 billion, or growth of more than 10.8 per cent from 2014.
Company president Shinkichi Miki said the reduction of new car sales in Thailand had a significant impact on the firm’s motor-insurance premiums, with negative growth of 17.6 per cent in 2014, to Bt3.567 billion. This was the main reason for the drop in total direct written premium income.
This year the company has been penetrating the infrastructure business sector more by taking advantage of its strong credit rating of “A-” by Standard & Poor’s.
The company has also revised its pricing for motor-insurance renewals, better reflecting the loss experience of each client in order to reward good drivers. This new pricing has been well accepted by clients and the renewal ratio has improved by 7 per cent.
Samart eyes Bt15 bn ICT contracts
Samart Corp is confident that its ICT business will be able to win new contracts worth around Bt15 billion this year, said company president Watchai Wilailuck.
Its information and communications technology business led by Samart Telecoms is expected to clinch contracts worth Bt7 billion in the first half and more than Bt8.5 billion in the second half.
The Samart Telcoms group has targeted backlog contracts to reach at least Bt10 billion by the end of this year, of which Bt6.1 billion worth have already been secured.
In the first quarter, Samart recorded consolidated total revenue of Bt4.801 billion with net profit attributable to equity holders of the company of Bt273 million.
Watchai said the Samart group targeted consolidated revenue of Bt100 billion over the next five years. The government’s “digital economy” policy, alternative energy, and infrastructure development will help the company achieve this revenue goal, he said.
CP All Q1 net profit beats forecasts
CP All, Thailand’s largest convenience-store operator, said yesterday that its first-quarter net profit rose 26.3 per cent from a year earlier, mainly on new-store expansion and a slight increase in same-store sales.
CP All, which operates 7-Eleven stores, posted January-March net profit of Bt3.41 billion, higher than the Bt2.92-billion average forecast by five analysts polled by Reuters.
First-quarter revenue rose 10.6 per cent year on year as the number of branches rose 9 per cent to 8,334. Same-store sales grew 0.3 per cent from a year earlier, it said in a statement.
CP All, controlled by billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont’s Charoen Pokphand Group, competes with Japan’s FamilyMart and Lotus Express, run by Tesco’s Thai unit. |– Reuters
