President Supant Mongkol-suthree said first-half revenue increased 11.7 per cent to Bt5.32 billion, with profits of Bt72.1 million, thanks to the celebrations for the King and the World Cup.

He said the firm was on course to break the Bt10-billion revenue barrier this year.

IT operations accounted for Bt4.79 billion, 90 per cent, of revenue, with the rest from printing.

TKS bought a 50-per-cent stake in Taiwanese-based Synnex (Thailand), a leading distributor in the IT business, in order to diversify into the IT sector. Supant said the IT business, however, was slowing down, because people have less purchasing power and the government's projects have been delayed. Despite this, the company's revenues are expected to grow 8 per cent next year.

Synnex is spending Bt180 million to build an automated warehouse - a completely computer-controlled operation - to facilitate its business expansion. The plant is scheduled to begin operations next year.

TKS, meanwhile, is spending Bt350 million to set up a new printing house in the Sinsakorn Industrial Estate in Samut Sakhon. Of the total budget, Bt250 million was spent on two of the latest hi-tech machines and the rest on construction. The new plant is scheduled to be up and running this month.

Supant said the company would focus more on manufacturing high-margin products rather than on sales volume.

TKS currently serves the digital-print and mail needs for Siam Commercial Bank, Citibank and Kasikorn Bank.

Chalida

Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation