Shin Corp profits sink by 60 per cent in 2006

[William]

Shin Corp profits sink by 60 per cent in 2006

Shin Corp, Thailand's top telecom firm that is at the centre of a political firestorm, said Tuesday its net profits fell by 60 per cent in 2006 due to huge drops in its mobile phone and satellite operations.


Shin Corp was founded by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but his family sold the company to Singapore's state-linked Temasek Holdings last year.
The politically explosive deal sparked months of street protests that eventually led to a coup against Thaksin in September. The deal is now the subject of a slate of criminal probes and remains a thorn in Thai-Singapore relations.
Shin Corp posted a net profit of 3.4 billion baht (95.5 million dollars) in 2006, compared to 8.6 billion baht (241 million dollars) one year earlier.
"The drop in Shin's earnings was mainly caused by a slump in the net profit of our subsidiaries," a company official said.
Profits of the group's flagship mobile firm, Advanced Info Service (AIS), dropped by 13.2 per cent to 16.25 billion baht because of lower service revenue as well as higher cost for sales and expenses.
AIS, Thailand's biggest mobile operator, saw its total revenue drop by 1.2 per cent amid a tough competitive environment, while handset sales rose 28 per cent to 15.3 billion baht.
The number of subscribers rose by 19 per cent, representing 3.1 million new subscribers, it said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
The group's satellite unit Shin Satellite Plc recorded a loss of 46 million baht last year, compared to a net profit of 1.33 billion baht in 2005 resulting from heavy losses due to write-off costs.
In October 2006, ShinSat took its Thaicom3 satellite out of service after it experienced a power failure and could no longer function.
Revenue at the satellite business, however, rose by 22.5 per cent to 6.85 billion baht.
Shin's broadcasting business, operated by ITV Plc, reported a loss of 1.78 billion baht in 2006 versus profits of 679 million baht in the previous year as a result of drop in revenue and rising costs and concession fees.
Concession fees for the independent television channel soared to 2.5 billion baht compared to 230 million baht in 2005, after it lost a court battle with the new military-backed government and was ordered to pay a mountain of back fees.

ITV's total revenue also dropped by about eight per cent to 2.15 billion baht due to intensified competition, political uncertainties and a general economic slowdown, the statement said.
Agence France Presse

[kingwilly]

^ can anyone say inflated profits prior to selling??

[stroller]

There no 'helping hand' in Thailand any more.

[Gerbil]

^^ and total lack of due dilligence by Temasek?