AOT to give record bonus
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Airports of Thailand's board of directors has approved a record annual bonus of 7.5 months of salary for the fiscal year ended in September, up from 6.5 months in the previous year, thanks to financial improvement.
Prasong Poontaneat, director-general of the Revenue Department and chairman of the listed state enterprise, said yesterday that in the first nine months, AOT earned Bt12.9 billion in net profit. Net profit was Bt12.2 billion for the whole previous fiscal year.
Passengers increased to 106 million and several airports operated above capacity.
“The staff had to work hard and helped improve the bottom line. The bonus payment is raised to boost their morale,” he said.
Parts of the cash generated from operations will also be reserved for expansion as AOT plans to invest over Bt130 billion to expand the capacity of several airports.
“Sitting on cash worth about Bt40 billion-Bt50 billion now, we would like to minimise our debt burden,” he added.
GH Bank upbeat on lending
Angkana Pilun-Owad Chaimanat, president of the Government Housing Bank, said yesterday that she is confident that GH Bank could meet its new loan target of Bt149.8 billion this year.
Its new loans have accumulated to Bt350.12 billion in the past two years and six months. Its net profit in the same period stood at Bt21.68 billion.
For the first nine months of this year, GHB extended Bt108.40 billion in new loans, up Bt5 billion or 4.8 per cent year-on-year.
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PTT explains payment to State Railway of Thailand
PTT YESTERDAY explained that the Bt1.3 billion paid to State Railway of Thailand for a plot of land on Vibhavadi Road is not a rental fee.
The rent for the land for the 30-year period until 2043 is only Bt42 million, it said, and the additional payment of Bt1.3 billion was not associated with the contract renewal. The money is to help SRT improve the plot’s landscape and its financial status.
Property fee cuts go into effect
The Interior Ministry is today bringing into force regulations to lower property transfer and mortgage registration fees to 0.01 per cent temporarily.
The regulations are in line with the Cabinet’s resolution of October 13 to boost transactions in the property market and shore up the sagging economy.
The reduction will be in place for six months until April 28 next year.
Patent cooperation with Singapore
Businesses and innovators from Singapore and Thailand can utilise Singapore’s new search and examination services to file for patent protection under the Patent Cooperation Treaty that is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
The treaty is an international patent agreement among 148 countries.
This milestone was reached at the fourth Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship Ministerial Meeting held in Bangkok on Tuesday, where the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Commerce Ministry’s Intellectual Property Department.
Thailand is among Asean’s best performers in innovation activity. In this year’s Global Innovation Index, Thailand was ranked fourth in the Asean region.
From 2011-13, an average of 1,173 resident patent applications and 4,851 non-resident patent applications were made in Thailand yearly, while Thailand’s patent applications abroad grew by an average of 26.1 per cent year on year, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Statistical Country Profile for Thailand.
Consumption slows in third quarter
While the Fiscal Policy Office is hopeful the government’s stimulus measures will boost economic expansion into next year, there is scant sign of an improvement yet.
Krisda Chinavicharana, director-general of the FPO, said consumption remained sluggish throughout the third quarter.
September collections of value-added tax at constant prices inched up 2.1 per cent year on year. VAT collected on domestic spending at constant prices increased 13.2 per cent, but that on imports at constant prices continued to shrink by 11.8 per cent.
For the third quarter, VAT at constant prices contracted 0.7 per cent.
Motorcycle sales shrank 0.7 per cent in September and 10.6 per cent for the third quarter, partly on declines in farm income as a result of low crop prices after the drought.
Delta Electronics expects record profits
Delta Electronics Thailand said yesterday that it expected net profit to hit record highs in 2015 and 2016 thanks to sustained global demand and improved margins, after it focused more on innovation and high-end products.
The company maintained a revenue-growth target of 5-10 percent this year and growth should continue next year after expansion in India, Europe and Africa, director Anusorn Muttaraid said.
Delta, which produces mobile chargers and power supplies for the telecommunication and automotive sectors, posted nine-month net profit of Bt5 billion baht, up 3.7 per cent year on year. – Reuters
Thai banks receive Bitcoin threat
Four Thai banks recently received an e-mail from an anonymous group, demanding the payment in Bitcoins or face cyber attacks, according to a source from the IT industry.
The hacker group called itself “Armada Collective”, the source said.
Nothing happened today, according to an executive of one of the banks.
Swiss hosting providers reportedly received a similar threat in September. In the e-mail, the group demanded payment of 20 Bitcoins (approximately US$6,000 or Bt210,000). It also specified the deadline and said if payment was not paid, the hosting providers would see all servers crashed. Then, the rate would go up by 20 bitcoins everyday. In the e-mail, it also instructed the receivers not to contact the media or they would face permanent attacks.
