Eternity Grand Logistics may lower its revenue target for the year in view of the political uncertainty and economic slow-down.

Managing director Poonsak Thiapairat yesterday said the company had originally set itself a revenue target of Bt1.3 billion, up 30 per cent from last year.

But the dull investment scene had yielded only Bt240 million in revenues in the first quarter, with a net profit of Bt10 million.

Poonsak said the company was therefore considering revising its revenue target for this year.

"The company, however, believes its revenues this year will not be lower than last year," he said.

Eternity believes the logistics business has much more room for growth in the domestic market, and that demand will grow continuously.

Poonsak said most of the company's customers were foreign firms that have invested in the Kingdom, including large Japanese companies.

It also counts some large Thai companies among its clients.

However, Poonsak is wary of the situation.

"Relying too much on international firms will place the company in a risky situation, because these companies depend mainly on their global investment policies," he said.

As an example, he cited the case of Exel, which was one of its major clients for years.

Exel has now transferred all the logistics jobs it gave Eternity to DHL after being taken over by the express-delivery giant.

Poonsak said it would be hard for the company to compete with rivals like DHL in the world market.

"The company, therefore, will have to shift its focus to Thai clients such as Index Living, Tipco and Malee Samphan," he said.

Eternity provides a wide range of logistics services. These include inland transportation, customs brokerage, warehouse and distribution and inter-business consultants.

Its main clients are Tesco Lotus, Central Tops Supermarket and Nestle.

The company has a fleet of 300 trucks.

Poonsak said that after operating Bang Pa-in Port in Ayutthaya, the company should earn about Bt40 million a year in management fees.

In the future, the port will enable the company's logistics services to integrate in a multi-modal format for goods and products transported from the North.

This will help the company save on operating costs.

In addition, the company plans to change the diesel-driven engines of its trucks to natural-gas-fuelled engines, which would help it save costs on a million litres of fuel oil per month.

Watcharapong    Thongrung

The Nation