RS remains confident on growth target
RS Promotion Plc said yesterday that it would reach its sales growth target of 25 per cent for the year after writing off losses of Bt300 million for the second quarter.
This means it is on course to hit its forecast of Bt3.3 billion in total sales. Chief executive Surachai Chetchotisak said the company's second-quarter net profit was Bt35.31 million, up 127 per cent year on year, and 350 per cent up on the previous quarter. Meanwhile, sales in the second quarter stood at Bt757.9 million, up 24 per cent on a year earlier, but down 4.3 per cent on the first quarter. Surachai said RS recorded increased sales of Bt1.5 billion with Bt43 million in net profit for the first half. The increase was mainly derived from advertising, licensing fees from music and film downloads, film productions and outsourcing, he said. However, the company is experiencing a slight decline in overall music sales, which dipped from Bt296 million to Bt294 million, Surachai said. Despite this, the profit margin per song increased from 31.7 to 38.1 per cent as a result of increased sales through digital channels such as MP3/4 downloads to players and mobile phones, rather than CDs, said deputy managing director Pornpan Rungruengbangchan. The current economic slowdown had not affected the company that much, Surachai said, as consumers and companies had gradually adapted to deal with the situation. Entertainment businesses have always been able to grow during poor economic situations, he said. Surachai said that as the political situation had also improved recently, with a clearer picture of who would sit on the Election Commission and a specific election date, there was optimism that the firm's business would run smoothly and even see higher profits during the second half. Because of this the company would once again pay dividends to shareholders, he said. From estimated sales of Bt3.3 billion this year, about 45 per cent each should come from music content and the media businesses, which include TV programmes, radio stations and printed media, while the remaining 10 per cent is expected to come from other businesses such as event organising and outsourcing services, Surachai said.
Nitida Asawanipont The Nation
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