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Shin Satellite forecasts sky-high growth in Indochina this year SHIN SATELLITE said yesterday it expected strong growth from its Internet and foreign operations, especially in Laos and Cambodia, with continued progress in its new broadband satellite project. The company forecast 50 to 100 percent growth in its subscriber base for its Internet and telecommunications services in its infant markets in Indochina. Dumrong Kasemset, executive chairman of Shin Sat, said the number of Internet subscribers was expected to increase to more than 300,000 by the end of this year from about 200,000 now. "The Internet is performing very well. Businesses in Laos grew significantly after our expansion projects for both mobile and fixed lines. But Cambodia should outperform the Laotian market," Dumrong said in an interview. Shin Satellite, one of Asia`s leading satellite operators, operates three conventional satellites called Thaicom I, II and III. The US$350-million iPSTAR-1 satellite, to be launched commercially in mid-2003, will be cost-efficient with high data communication capacity for global applications, the company said. Shin Sat is 51 percent owned by Thailand`s biggest telecom conglomerate, Shin Corp, majority owned by members of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra`s family. Shin Satellite shares were up 0.8 percent compared with a 0.12 percent fall in the overall Thai stock market yesterday. The company recorded a 170 percent surge in 2000 net profit due to robust growth in its core transponder rental and Internet businesses. Its wholly owned unit, CS Internet, serves about 21 percent of Thai Internet users. Dumrong said a 49 percent owned unit, Lao Telecoms, could yield about $1.5 million in profit contribution for Shin Satellite this year from $1.0 million last year. The Laotian unit posted an average annual revenue of $25 million and he expected the turnover to increase further on anticipation that subscribers for both fixed-line and mobile phones there could jump by about 66 percent to 100,000 at the end of this year from 60,000. For its Cambodian mobile unit, Dumrong said the number of subscribers were expected to double to 40,000 at the end of this year and there were plans to invest about $5.0 million this year. Dumrong said uncertainty in Thailand over fees for telecom licences, which are under review, could affect the company`s competitiveness against regional satellite operators due to relatively high costs. The firm now pays 10.5 percent of gross revenues to a state agency in exchange for the right to operate its satellites. Dumrong said it was negotiating with the government over the issue and it might consider issuing bonds to finance future payments for its licences if needed. He gave no further details. He said Shin Sat revenues would rely more on international revenue after a soft launch of its iPSTAR later this year. "The proportion between domestic and international revenues will change to 50:50 for this year from 60:40 currently. "I believe that after the new satellite goes into orbit, our international revenues will increase to 90 percent from 50 percent expected for this year," he said. Dumrong said the firm would establish ground terminals for the first phase of the project in April and plan to make a soft launch in Thailand and Malaysia in the third quarter of this year. bday.net - 15.3.01 - Die Anleger honorieren das aber nicht: Z.Zt. SHIN - 2.99% SHIN-F - 3.51% |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Waste or make money in Thailand |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | BodyG (15.03.01 10:06:17) |
| Beitrag: | 536 von 611 (ID:3105086) |
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