Thaicom Public Company Limited (THCOM), Thailand’s first satellite operator, reported its operating results for the third quarter of 2018, posting a consolidated net profit of Baht 104 million (approximately U.S.$3.15 million), improved by 59.6% from Q3/2017, due mainly to the decrease of depreciation expense through the satellite assets impairment recognized in Q4/2017, and the decrease of selling and administration expenses.
The consolidated revenue from sales of goods and rendering of services increased by 0.6% from Q2/2018, contributed mainly by the ramp up of satellite revenue from oversea clients. However, compared to the previous quarter, the net profit was down by 58.6%, caused mainly by the recognition of net foreign exchange loss of Baht 36 million (approximately U.S.$1.09 million) in Q3/2018 as a result of Baht appreciation in Q3/2018, together with the decrease of the share of profit from LTC due to the drop of telephone usage according to the disaster from a dam collapse in Laos.
During the third quarter of 2018, the company signed a multi-year consultancy service agreement with Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL), a Bangladesh Government-owned satellite operator in order to develop the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 programme and future markets.
Thaicom also signed a lucrative deal with Uniwise Offshore Limited, one of Asia’s leading offshore support vessel (OSV) operators, who selected Nava™ to enhance operations on their entire fleet of more than 30 vessels.
Thaicom’s telecommunication and mobile service provider subsidiary in Laos People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR), Laos Telecommunications Co., Ltd. (LTC) as of the end of Q3/2018, had total mobile subscribers (excluded fixed wireless) of 1.52 million subscribers, ranking No.1 with approximately 58.0% of total mobile’s market share.
