• 
• 

Published on November 27, 2007

Leading global information-technology (IT) research company IDC says Asiasoft, a Thai company most people above 30 years of age are unfamiliar with, is the No-1 online-game company in Thailand and Singapore, with a market share of 59.6 per cent and 69.8 per cent, respectively.

Asiasoft is No 2 in Malaysia and Vietnam, with a market share of 21.2 per cent and 15.8 per cent, respectively.

Pramoth, the majority shareholder, founded Asiasoft about nine years ago, not long after the economic crisis that hit Thailand and many other countries in Asia. In fact, had the crisis of 1997 had not struck, Pramoth would probably have remained an employee.

"I was working with a firm that was directly involved with IT, including software and hardware. Suddenly there was a crisis, the firm faced problems, and soon I was unemployed. That marked the beginning," said Pramoth.

"I had some connection with people in the industry, and they wanted someone to market their products. Initially, I thought of becoming their employee. But after doing it for a while, it didn't quite work out, and hence I started Asiasoft.

"Due to the economic situation at the time, I had no competitor, because everyone was in bad shape."

Pramoth soon hit the jackpot. The Ragnarok game he brought to Thailand became an overnight sensation. In the third and fourth years after its inception, Asiasoft launched three online games. But not all of them were successful. In the fifth and sixth years, the firm introduced four more games, three of which received a warm welcome from the market.

"You may say our success rate has historically been 50:50. But in the entertainment business, there is the so-called 80:20 formula, which means if you have 20-per-cent success, that's fine. We're in a high-risk, high-return business," he said.

The risk, perhaps, has not been too high. Pramoth said he has never suffered a loss, even though revenue and profits have fluctuated each year, depending on whether a new game was introduced and how successful it was.

Awaiting approval from the stock-exchange authorities, Asiasoft started its domestic roadshow to

institutional investors last Friday and begins its foreign roadshow today, to introduce the company to investors in Singapore and Hong Kong. DBS Vickers (Thailand) is financial adviser to Asiasoft, which is planning to sell 75 million shares under in an initial public offering (IPO).

Pramoth said the stock-market listing would help Asiasoft meet its goal of expanding and strengthening its foundations in regional markets, including launching more online games in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

"Another reason we've planned the IPO is we want to transform the company into a public company that is professionally managed, not dependent on a single team or person," he said.

During the first half of the year, the firm showed a net profit of Bt114.92 million, a 16.3-per-cent margin on net revenues of Bt705.15 million. Asiasoft earned a net profit of Bt118.38 million in 2005 on revenue of Bt857.54 million and a net profit of 125.74 million last year on revenue of Bt1.056 billion.

About 40 per cent of Asiasoft's revenue comes from Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam and the rest from Thailand.

Pramoth said Asiasoft would focus on Southeast Asia, especially the current four markets where the firm is doing business. The firm will continue to concentrate on online games, although Pramoth did not rule out expansion into related businesses.

"We'll focus on IT, online and entertainment. If it covers one of those three areas, we may consider. However, I think the majority of our revenue in the next three years will still come from online games, although the formats may change. For example, we may receive some [extra] income from games we produce ourselves or earn some additional revenue from merchandising and other related offline products," he said.

Pramoth said Asiasoft planned to sell its IPO shares to foreign and institutional investors, as well as local ones.

"We admit Thai investors may not be quite familiar with our online-game company. But since we're a Thai firm, we'd like to fly the flag here. In comparison, foreign investors know this business very well, and there are many success stories of companies in this industry. It's nothing new for them," he said.

After the IPO, Pramoth will reduce his share in Asiasoft to 55 per cent. Currently, Asiasoft markets 12 online games, including MapleStory, Audition, Yulgang, Cabal and Ragnarok, in four Asean countries. A recent IDC report estimates the Asean online game market will reach US$123.5 million (Bt4.18 billion) this year and predicts it will grow 16.8 per cent annually from now until 2011.

The Nation