Thaicom revenues slide
May 8, 2019
Thaicom, Thailand’s first satellite operator, has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31st.
Thaicom’s revenue decreased compared to the previous quarter and the same quarter of last year. The company reported that due to effective cost management, the profit from normal operations improved. The company reported a net loss due to the writing-off of assets in Q1/2019.
Thaicom reported revenue from sales and services for Q1/2019 of THB 1,303 million, down 13.5 per cent from Q4/2018, and down 13.4 per cent from Q1/2018, mainly due to the decrease of revenue of conventional satellite services as the Company secured a long-term contract with a major customer at discounted yield. Whereas, revenue from the Thaicom 4 broadband satellite increased.
EBIT from normal operations was maintained at Baht 96 million, a significant improvement from Q4/2018 and Q1/2018 when the Company reported a loss of Baht 126 million and Baht 20 million, respectively. Thaicom reported EBITDA of Baht 559 million for Q1/2019, equivalent to an EBITDA margin of 43 per cent, an increase from 24 per cent for Q4/2018 and 31 per cent for Q1/2018 as a result of cost saving measures.
The company reported a net loss of Baht 33 million for Q1/2019, resulting from the writing-off of assets of Baht 34 million and the loss from share of profit of investment in joint venture of Baht 5 million.
Anant Kaewruamvongs, CEO, commented: “Our focus on cost control and the restructuring of our organization has started to pay off. As we head further into 2019, we continue to work hard on our 3 long-term strategies. Firstly, in order to sustain our satellite core business, we have made good progress in forming new industry alliances and joint investments with other regional satellite operators. Meanwhile, we are open to discuss various forms of project collaboration to enhance public-private partnership. Secondly, we have continued to leverage our marketing and technical strengths to develop businesses that are adjacent to the satellite business, for example in the area of satellite consultancy services, teleport services, as well as system integration of satellite and related communication networks. Thirdly, we have embarked on venturing into new business areas with a focus on digital and future technologies to diversify the Company’s portfolio and reliance on the satellite business.”