Hana suffers from strong baht

All the group's sale revenue are in foreign currency, primarily US dollar, and foreign currency costs are 63 per cent of sales revenue, the company said in the filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

 In the second quarter, Hana recorded net earnings of Bt432 million, down from Bt573.4 million a year earlier. It attributed the decline to material cost increase, baht appreciation, and a stock option programme.

 In the quarter, its sale revenue increased 8 per cent year on year to Bt3.98 billion from Bt3.67 billion. Sale revenue in dollar terms increased by 19 per cent to US$114.4 million from $96.3 million. However, the operating profit dropped 27 per cent to Bt422 million from Bt581.9 million.

 In the quarter, the baht appreciated 9 per cent against the greenback. Thus, in baht term, sale revenue grew only 8 per cent.

- The Nation