NMG vice chairman Thanachai Santichaikul said the company expected to maintain its revenues as high as last year's Bt3.09 billion, while at the same time generating a profit as four major problems are on the way towards being resolved.

"Firstly, we have more than Bt1 billion in non-core assets that we have tried to dispose of. We can't rush to get rid of them, otherwise we won't get a reasonable price," he said.

"Second, within a couple of months, our mismatched debts will be restructured. We have Bt500 million in debentures to mature next year and another batch to mature in 2009. We have given the bank our mandate. Hopefully, all mismatched debts will be resolved."

Third, Thanachai affirmed that there would not be any big investments by NMG this year as the company has spent billions of baht on expanding its capacity over the past five or six years.

Last but not least, Thanachai said the company was focusing more on non-advertising business. For example, pocketbooks, comic books, news by SMS, seminars and educational activities, and subcontract printing for The Daily Yomiuri and The Asian Wall Street Journal.

"When we have solved all our main problems, we are likely to obtain a profit from pure operations this year," he said.

He expects NMG's advertising and non-advertising business will be in the proportion of 70-30, as against the current 80-20.

In the first quarter of the year, NMG's overall revenues dropped 8 per cent due to a decrease in print media advertisements.

"Although broadcasting advertisements picked up 15 per cent, the drop of 20 per cent in print media advertising resulted in a 13-per-cent drop in advertising overall," Thanachai said.

NMG reported a consolidated net profit of Bt10.69 million in the first quarter, compared with Bt14.3 million in the same period last year. It expects real-estate advertising to rebound later this year.

Piyarat Setthasiriphaiboon

The Nation