Thailand Post's performance on track
State enterprise Thailand Post Co is forecasting increased revenues and a higher net profit this year, following a positive first-half financial performance.
It believes it will achieve total revenues of Bt14 billion and a net profit of Bt800 million. In the first half, it posted an operating income of Bt7.1 billion and a net profit of Bt580 million, up 10 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively, on year. Last year, Thailand Post's full-year net profit was Bt350 million, from total revenues of around Bt13.1 billion. This year's revenue growth was boosted by delivery of ballots for the April general and Senate elections, as well as the sale of about 170 million postcards related to the World Cup competition in Germany. Thailand Post's online money-order service has also gained in popularity, with 1.2 million orders sent in June, up from about one million in May and 960,000 in February. "If nothing goes wrong, we believe we can achieve our net-profit target of Bt800 million this year," chairman Pol Lt-General Anan Bhiromkaew said yesterday. Anan said that this year, the state enterprise was focusing more on using information technology (IT) to foster its operations and develop new services, as part of its plan to boost revenues. Board member Vichien Keeratinijakal said Thailand Post was thinking of developing IT systems to offer new online financial transactions and enable the company to monitor its revenues on a day-to-day basis. However, it has yet to finalise an IT budget for this year and next. Outgoing president Dhiraphongs Suddhinond said management had urged staff to change their attitude and think of themselves as service providers, not simply as postal workers. Dhiraphongs' term ends next month, and senior executive vice president for marketing and business Ormsin Chivapruk is the only contender for the top post. In a related matter, Thailand Post will launch automated postal machines at eight branches in Bangkok next month, to enable customers to perform postal transactions on a self-service basis. The move is intended to improve Thailand Post's services. Thailand Post was formerly the postal unit of the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) before it was split to become a corporatised body in August 2003, while the CAT became CAT Telecom Plc. Thailand Post has more than 20,000 employees and 1,000 branches nationwide. Sirivish Toomgum The Nation
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