Delta Electronics (Thailand) Plc, the biggest electronics firm on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, has trimmed this year’s sales revenue forecast and capital expenditure, with the possibility that revenue will be flat next year due to the global economic situation.

President Henry Shieh yesterday said Delta’s turnover this year may possibly be flat or only increase slightly from last year as the economies of the US, Europe and Japan are not in good shape while the Chinese economy is slowing down.

The company previously projected a 10% growth of revenue this year, to US$1.3 billion.

“The Indian market was pretty low in the first half, while China’s economy is still growing this year but not as much as before,” Mr Shieh told a briefing at the SET. “Earlier, we expected the solar inverter business would recover quickly. In fact, price erosion has continued due to fierce competition.”

For 2013, Delta anticipates revenue growth of no more than 10% or flat at $1.2 billion compared with normal annual growth of 10-20% in the past.

India will hold an election in early 2014, thus big spending and business recovery are not expected within the next year and a half, he added.

The company has also revised down its planned investment budget this year from $25 million to $15 million by postponing a new plant in India.

“Delta always monitors progress of the environment in Asia, Europe, Brazil and Russia for our investments. We will hold the capital and invest at the right timing,” said Mr Shieh.

Delta reported revenue of 19.1 billion baht in the first half, relatively flat year-on-year.

Net profit rose by 8.84% year-on-year to 1.6 billion baht from 1.47 billion.

Earnings edged down by 1.32% year-on-year in the second quarter to 899 million baht from 911 million a year earlier, but surged by 26% quarter-on-quarter.

Mr Shieh said Delta has to revisit its product and country strategies for the solar inverter business due to changing subsidy policies in Europe.

Australia has a good demand for the product while the company is looking at Italy, France and other Western Europe countries to boost sales.

DELTA shares closed yesterday on the SET at 23.80 baht, up 10 satang, in trade worth 15.2 million baht.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/307688/delta-anticipates-lower-annual-sales-revenue

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True Corporation posted a strong revenue increase in the second quarter, driven largely by its 3G subscriber acquisition strategy and continued broadband growth momentum.

But the country’s leading telecommunications conglomerate still faced a heavy loss in the second quarter due to higher marketing costs of all three key businesses to drive subscriber acquisitions and stimulate service uptake during the industry’s low season.

True reported consolidated revenue of 21.19 billion baht in the second quarter, up 21.5% year-on-year. Of the total, consolidated service revenue rose by 8.1% year-on-year to 15 billion baht, thanks to its strong 3G revenue growth.

True Online’s service revenue increased 18.8% year-on-year, thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and True Move H’s smartphone packages, which pushed its mobile internet usage up 77.3% year-on-year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation declined 14.6% year-on-year to 4.01 billion baht.

The net loss was 2.18 billion baht in the second quarter, down 27% year-on-year due mainly to increased ongoing operations.

True CEO Suphachai Chearavanont said the group will continue strengthening its leadership in the high-speed internet market by expanding its wireless and fixed-line broadband service coverage.

True Move H saw its 3G subscriber base almost double to 2 million, while its 2G customers rose to 19.5 million at the end of the second quarter.

Shares of TRUE closed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at four baht yesterday, down two satang, in trade worth 83.24 million baht.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/307679/true-posts-revenue-gain-but-net-loss

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Samart Corporation is upbeat about its third-generation (3G) wireless broadband outlook, aiming to double its customer base to 600,000 this year.

The ambitious target was made after the leading communications maker’s subsidiary, Samart I-Mobile Plc, which acts as a mobile virtual network operator for end users of TOT, was awarded a five-year contract by the state telecom enterprise for exclusive rights to 40% of 3G network capacity to be resold to end-users, or 2.88 million numbers, under TOT’s new business model.

Samart I-Mobile is one of five companies currently providing 3G services on TOT’s 2.1-GHz frequency network. The company committed to pay TOT a minimum guarantee of 156 million baht in the first year of contract and another 476 million baht for the second year of operations.

Watchai Vilailuck, Samart’s president, said the company will start an aggressive new promotional campaign next month to promote its 3G service under the i-Mobile 3GX brand.

TOT expects to make progress in its 3G network expansion with at least 5,200 3G base stations nationwide to be completed by November, up from 3,200 now.

Mr Watchai said Samart plans to offer customers an unlimited data tariff package for 399 baht per months at 384 Kbps.

“We aim to double the number of 3G users to 600,000 by the end of the year,” he said.

Mr Watchai said Samart aims to again win TOT’s second-phase 3G network expansion project worth 20 billion baht this year.

Under the second phase project, TOT plans to install an additional 12,000 3G base stations nationwide without co-site network partnership with private mobile operators.

Mr Watchai said if TOT chooses SL Consortium of Samart, Loxley, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei Technologies, the winner of the state’s 3G phase 1 project, TOT could lower costs in areas of maintenance and spare parts.

Samart yesterday reported a 12% drop in net profit to 232 million baht in the second quarter, on revenue of 3.71 billion baht, down 35% year-on-year.

First half profit was 501 million baht, up 17% from the same period last year. But revenue declined by 14% to 8 billion baht in the first half.

Mr Watchai attributed the fall in revenue to the delay in TOT’s 3G network expansion and business plan.

But he expressed confidence that Samart could achieve its profit target of 1 billion baht this year.

Samart has so far won contracts worth 8 billion baht in total, with several projects in the bidding process worth 30 billion baht, he added.

Shares of SAMART closed yesterday on the SET at 9.55 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 55.6 million baht.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/307839/samart-aims-to-double-customer-base-to-600000

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TOT Plc is joining Brunei Telecom in proposing that Facebook use Thailand as a regional data centre for social networking with the state telecom enterprise handling traffic control.

Brunei Telecom is willing to provide financial support for infrastructure construction.

TOT will handle traffic control and operation management, said TOT board chairman Panthep Chamrasromran.

“Telecom operators in Malaysia and Singapore have also expressed interest in participating in our project,” he said.

Mr Panthep said negotiations with Facebook could take place this month.

“We believe we will get a positive response on the proposal,” he said.

Mr Panthep said Thailand has high potential as a regional data centre for Facebook thanks to its more than 10 million Facebook accounts and geographical location.

TOT expects to gain revenue from data centre services and international link sales, he said. TOT has more than 100,000 kilometres of fibre-optic lines and 13,000 mobile base stations as assets, he said.

The state telecom enterprise is cooperating with Chinese mobile giant China Telecom to build two international internet gateways as backup facilities for Thailand.

The first route will run from Nong Khai province to Laos, China and Russia. The second will link Thailand with Cambodia and Vietnam.

The new fibre-optic facilities are expected to relieve traffic congestion on CAT’s submarine gateway connecting Thailand to Malaysia and Singapore, the sole existing link, while the gateways are also expected to serve Asia’s expanding economies, especially Myanmar.

Mr Panthep said TOT is required to spend tens of millions of baht on the gateway connection in Nong Khai. China Telecom is responsible for the rest.

Pay-TV operator TrueVisions is adding its content to the country’s biggest local cable TV operator, Cable Thai Holding Plc.

The move to the local cable platform will help the company access CTH’s audience of 3.5 million households across the country, allowing TrueVisions to cover every market.

Suphachai Chearavanont, the chief executive of True Corporation, the parent firm of TrueVisions, expects this to transform the local cable TV industry.

“The cable TV industry will soon become borderless once we enter the Asean Economic Community. Cooperation with local companies helps us compete with other countries,” he said.

TrueVisions has sold nine channels to CTH. Content includes sports, documentaries, travel and entertainment and will be broadcast on the local cable platform from next month.

TrueVisions will soon add another channel that offers international sports content including English Premier League football for cable viewers.

Mr Supachai said TrueVisions has many more channels to offer local cable audiences, but CTH has to select what is most suitable for its audience.

Wichai Thongtang, CTH’s chairman, said the move enhances the image of local cable TV, which once used to be seen as TV for upcountry people.

“We have to overlook our rivalry because cooperation will help us both expand our businesses faster,” he said.

Asked whether the venture will affect CTH’s negotiations to sell a 20% stake to GMM Grammy, Mr Wichai said talks are ongoing.

“It shouldn’t be a problem. I still talk with Grammy. However, this is an important issue because the amount of shares is quite big. It will take time for us before any decision is made,” said Mr Wichai.

CTH plans to increase its registered capital and sell a 20% stake to Grammy. If successful, Mr Wichai will own 25%, Thai Rath newspaper 25% and local TV operators 30%.

A few days ago, TrueVisions launched its PSI-True TV satellite receiver with the leading satellite TV provider.

Yesterday, RS announced it will spend 1 billion baht to operate a new RS Sport La Liga channel after introducing its Sunbox set-top box.

RS secured three-year broadcast rights for La Liga.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/307994/truevisions-teams-up-with-cth-on-cable

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