Khettiya Jittapong & Michael Battye
Reuters
16 Nov 07
Shin Corp, Thailand’s largest telecoms group, reported a 12 fall in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday, due mainly to a lower profit at its mobile phone unit Advanced Info Service.
Shin Corp, controlled by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings through two Thai-registered companies, posted a net profit of 753.7 million baht ($22 million), down from 855.4 million baht from a year earlier.
Shin Corp, valued at $2.7 billion on the Thai bourse, comprises more than 20 companies in the wireless, satellite, Internet and media sectors with Advanced Info Service contributing more than 80 percent of Shin Corp’s profits.
Its subsidiaries and associates contributed 1.52 billion baht profit in the July-September quarter, down 4.3 percent from a year earlier, according to its financial statement.
Shin Corp, which sold a stake in budget airline Thai Air Asia in June, booked a 5.13 billion baht gain from selling investments in subsidiaries, the statement said without elaboration.
AIS, 43-percent owned by Shin Corp, reported a 3.9 percent drop in quarterly earnings on Tuesday as subscriber growth slowed and political uncertainty curbed spending.
AIS is the country’s largest mobile phone operator and controls 50 percent of the Thai mobile phone market.
As part of plan to divest non-core assets, Shin Corp said last month it would sell its wholly-owned consumer finance unit, Capital OK, for 990 million baht after it booked a huge loss from the investment in the finance firm.
Before the earnings announcement, Shin Corp shares fell 0.94 percent to 26.25 baht on Wednesday, when the overall Thai stock market rose 0.45 percent. ($1= 33.87 Baht