The company aims to increase private-sector clients to 70 per cent of its total, as state agencies have cut back due to political uncertainty, president Siriwat Vongjarukorn said yesterday.

The company will also issue warrants to shareholders, which could generate Bt160 million if fully subscribed, to raise capital for overseas expansion over three years.

The company's business will grow 20-25 per cent this year, double the industry average of 10 per cent, Siriwat said. Last year its revenues rose 58 per cent to Bt2.39 billion. In particular, financial institutions are expected to invest heavily in IT systems over the next three to five years to comply with the new international banking standard Basel II as well as the new accounting standard IAS39.

Over the next three years, MFEC will expand to Japan, the US and Europe, as the local market is slowing down and becoming more competitive with the entry of foreign players.

The company is seeking a partner for joint research and development to improve the efficiency of its IT platforms.

This year, no large projects are in the pipeline due to several risk factors but the company will work on improving its productivity.

The company will realise Bt1.02 billion in revenue from work done the previous year, half of which is from state agency customers, or Bt200-300 million per quarter.

Siriwat believes his company can maintain its gross margin at 20-25 per cent.

On April 20, the company will hold a shareholders' meeting to seek approval for the issuance of three-year warrants at one unit for four existing shares. The exercise price would be Bt3. The company would issue 54.25 million common shares to hold in reserve for warrant conversion.

Siriwat said that since his company's cashflow is quite high it could pay total

dividends equivalent to 80 per cent of net profit.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

The Nation