CENTEL posts Q1 profit increase despite flat sales

Chairman Suthikiati Chirathivat said the listed company’s improved first-quarter operating results had also been achieved in spite of the fact that overall domestic consumption had still not fully recovered to its former level. 
CENTEL’s net profit of Bt783.3 million resulted mainly from continued effective cost management of selling, general and administrative expenses for the company’s food business, as well as the receipt of insurance compensation for flood damage to the Centara Grand Beach Resort in Phuket during the final quarter of last year and a decrease in overall finance costs due to the refinancing of outstanding loans for the group’s hotels business, he said.
Furthermore, the company expects that the food business, which saw a significant slowdown last year, will see opportunities for achieving improved operating performance, especially during the second half of the year, Suthikiati said. 
At the same time, CENTEL is still closely monitoring the situation in the Maldives, as well as reviewing and adjusting its marketing activities on a regular basis to correspond to the changing overall business situation, the chairman said, adding that the company still expects to be able to achieve ongoing increased profitable performance from the previous year.