NBTC ALLOCATES PHONE NUMBERS

An NBTC source said RealMove, AWN and DTAC TriNet (DTN) of Total Access Communication had all requested additional mobile-phone numbers from the licensing body. 

AWN asked for 7 million, while RealMove asked for 4.8 million and DTN 5 million.

However, the telecom committee declined to grant the DTN request, as it still has lot of unused mobile-phone numbers. 

Under the NBTC’s number-allocation rules, it will consider the phone-number sales and remaining phone numbers of operators before granting their requests for more numbers.

 It will not allocate additional numbers if 70 per cent of their existing numbers are still unused.

 

 

PTTGC Q2 profit down 45%, hit by shutdowns

 PTT Global Chemical posted a 45-per-cent drop in quarterly net profit yesterday due to a two-month scheduled shutdown of its refinery and an unplanned stoppage of an olefins cracker.

Net profit was Bt4.92 billion for the April-June period, slightly lower than the average Bt5.13-billion forecast of eight analysts surveyed by Reuters.

But profit rose 5 per cent from the previous quarter mainly because of an inventory gain of Bt2.2 billion after a rise in benchmark Dubai crude-oil prices, PTTGC said in a statement.

Its refinery run rate dropped to 35 per cent from 100 per cent a year earlier, while its gross refining margin fell 25 per cent year on year to US$4.05 a barrel, the company said.

PTTGC is the flagship petrochemical business of PTT, Thailand’s largest energy firm. 

Its operations are expected to improve during this half of the year because no maintenance shutdown will weigh down earnings, analysts said.

On Monday, Thai Oil, the refinery flagship of PTT, reported a better-than-expected 24-per-cent rise in quarterly net profit due to strong performance of the refinery unit and an inventory gain after an increase in global crude-oil prices.

Thai Oil’s 275,000-barrel-per-day refinery ran at 109 per cent in the second quarter, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier. - Reuters 

 

 SCN inter’s net profit surges 70%

 Scan Inter, a supplier of compressed natural gas (CNG) and retailer of natural gas for vehicles (NGV), expects stronger growth during this half of the year than in the first half because of the continued growth of natural-gas-related businesses.

SCN posted a 70-per-cent surge in net profit to Bt71.42 million for the second quarter, thanks to the expansion of the company’s gas-related businesses, including NGV refuelling stations and CNG for industry (iCNG). 

First-half revenue rose 36 per cent to Bt1.25 billion, while net profit climbed 39 per cent to Bt153.47 million. 

Management expects 40-per-cent revenue growth this year in view of iCNG sales, which have risen to 8 billion British thermal units a day, and NGV sales averaging 20,000 kilograms per day, Littee Kitpipit, executive director for administration and marketing, said yesterday.

Besides the growing iCNG business, Scan Inter’s engineering, procurement and construction business for PTT has boosted revenue for the second quarter by 28 per cent to Bt382.66 million. 

 

 Tasco eyes growth in second half 

 Tipco Asphalt, a major local and Asia-Pacific asphalt supplier, expects continuing growth this half-year on demand from Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia for road-building projects. 

Tasco’s board of directors has declared a Bt0.30 dividend per share for the first half. 

Managing director Chaiwat Srivalwat said yesterday that next quarter, Tasco expected domestic demand of about 500,000 tonnes of asphalt for state infrastructure and road-repair projects worth more than Bt2 billion. 

In the second quarter, the company generated revenue of Bt5.5 billion from the sale of 440,000 tonnes of asphalt and netted Bt702 million. 

First-half revenue stood at Bt12.10 billion from the sale of 1.03 million tonnes of asphalt, while net profit was Bt1.89 million. 

 

 Infrastructure projects to be integrated

 To be in line with land use in Mukdahan’s special economic zone, the Transport Ministry will integrate several infrastructure projects.

At a meeting yesterday, a committee on the development of transport infrastructure projects chaired by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Chartchai Tipsunave, considered how to connect the projects in the area. The projects are the Ban Phai-Mukdahan-Nakhon Phanom double-track railway project for the section in which Mukdahan Station, the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge and container yards are nearby, the cross-border logistics and trans-shipment terminal project and the rural road project. 

Mukdahan is one of 10 provinces designated by the government to get special economic zones. Its SEZ will cover 361,542 rai (57,846 hectares) in three districts.

 

MAYBANK SELLS 99.99% STAKE IN THAI FIRM

 

A subsidiary of Malayan Banking (Maybank) has sold its 99.99-per-cent stake in Maybank Asset Management Thailand Co (MAMT) to Capital Link Holding Ltd of Thailand.

Maybank said yesterday that Maybank Asset Management Group had disposed of the stake, comprising 26.99 million shares in MAMT, the previous day.

Based on MAMT’s audited account as at June 30, the total net book value was Bt103.1 million, or about 11.9 million ringgit.

The group said the sale was completed as part of its continuous effort and strategy to improve its regional business operations and optimise the company’s current resources in the most efficient manner. – The Star

 

1.1M TRAVELLERS SEEN THIS WEEKEND

 

Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul predicted that 1.1 million people would travel in Thailand during the August 12-14 Mother Day’s period. 

Of that number, 800,000 will be Thais and 300,000 foreigners. 

The tourists are expected to spend Bt21 billion, Bt3.5 billion from the domestic travellers and Bt17 billion from foreigners.

 

CP ALL EXPLAINS PROFIT JUMP

 

CP All has released an explanation for the large increase in net profit from the same period last year in the company’s consolidated financial statement for the second quarter ended June 30.

CP All posted a quarterly net profit of Bt4.196 billion, an increase of 33.6 per cent year on year. Its total revenue for the second quarter was Bt114.629 billion, an increase of 13.9 per cent, on the expansion of 7-Eleven stores from 8,469 stores in the second quarter of 2015 to 9,252 stores in the second quarter of 2016, and also an increase of revenue from sales of goods by Makro because of its store expansions.