Live Incorporation back on financial track
Live Incorporation chief financial officer Vichai Benjapalaporn, left, and chief operating officer Kulpong Bunnag expect the company to gain popularity within the next year.
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Live Incorporation, a local content provider and billboard and building-wrap operator, expects to write off accumulated loses by this year-end after it made profits of Bt2.7 million during the third quarter of this year.
Vichai Benjapalaporn, the company’s chief financial officer, said the third-quarter results marked a turning point for the company after it had encountered financial difficulties and accumulated losses of Bt2 billion.
The company expects to clear all its debts from its future profits.
He said Live Incorporation’s accumulated debt had been cut through capital reduction and share premium. The company currently has Bt14 million in debt.
Its working strategy right now is to maximise efficiency and cut all unnecessary costs.
Its sales during the first nine months doubled from Bt220 million in the same period last year. However, total sales by this year-end would not exceed Bt400 million, Vichai said.
Live Incorporation currently has five subsidiaries – Live radio producing FM99.5, Channel V Thailand, Live TV, Box Office and Live Media Group – operating five cable TV channels, a radio station and billboards and building-wrap advertisements.
The five channels are: Movie 1 – Western movies; Movie 2 – Asian movies; Pop – teenage variety shows; Thai Chaiyo – folk programmes; EDN – edutainment programmes; and Variety One – international variety shows.
To produce content on its own to serve Pop, Thai Chaiyo, and Variety One, the company invested more than Bt100 million to build four studios, according to the company’s chief operating officer Kulpong Bunnag.
At the same time, the company has allocated Bt30 million as marketing budget for the rest of this year and the same budget for the whole of next year.
Various media such as its current TV channels, radio channel, and other printed media will be used for building awareness.
Also, it plans to attract more audiences through advertisements of its business partners including Air Asia.
Prospective business partners next year include Central Marketing Group and Coke.
Of the total expected sales, Kulpong said Live TV’s contribution could be as much as 40 per cent, followed by Live Media, Box Office, Channel V and Live Radio.
Its five TV channels that sell under the Live brand currently have 421 local cable TV operators receiving the programme for future sales to individual customers, which is 80 per cent of total operators. Next year, the company expects to have up to 527 operators.
Nitida Asawanipont
The Nation
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