True budgets Bt48 bn in capex for this year
True Corp group has budgeted for about Bt48 billion in cash capital expenditure for this year, according to a filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Tuesday.
The budget does not include an instalment payment for an upfront licence fee.
It has also targeted growth in service revenue of between 16 per cent and 20 per cent this year and expects to turn its bottom line into a profit this year. True’s share price on Tuesday closed at Bt6.25, up 1.63 per cent.
The largest cellular operator, Advanced Info Service (AIS), has earmarked capital expenditure this year of between Bt40 billion and Bt45 billion for the expansion of both its cellular and fibre Internet networks.
Total Access Communication (DTAC) plans capital expenditure this year of Bt17 billion to Bt20 billion to bolster its network and improve its Internet services.
True mobile phone service brand TrueMove H gained 5.4 million net subscribers in 2016, representing 75 per cent of the industry’s net additions, and expanded its subscriber base to 24.53 million. True claimed that this increase has made it the second-largest mobile operator in the country by number of subscribers and raised its subscriber market share to 27.2 per cent, up from 23.1 per cent a year earlier.
At the end of 2016, DTAC had 24.5 million subscribers, while AIS had 41 million.
True Corp reported a consolidated net loss of Bt2.807 billion in 2016, against profit of Bt4.4 billion in 2015, resulting mainly from expenses related to its nationwide network and service expansion to accelerate its 4G and fibre-optic network footprint, to spectrum licences amortisation and to content acquisition.
DTAC’s net profit last year amounted to Bt2.086 billion, decreasing 65 per cent year on year, largely due to higher depreciation and amortisation and restructuring cost.
AIS’s net profit last year was Bt30.667 billion, declining 22 per cent year on year.
