One-off payment to settle Channel 3 dispute

The payment will enable the company to benefit from same concession conditions, under which it is set to pay a fee of Bt2.02 billion for an automatic 10-year extension until 2020.

The extra cash payment of Bt405 million will be made on condition that MCOT does not change the concession, which began in 1989.

The payment was calculated based on the combined average revenue generated by Bangkok Entertainment in the past five years and its forecast revenue over the next five years. The amount was then converted into a one-year average revenue, 6.5 per cent of which produced the sum of Bt405 million.

This percentage is the rate applied to MCOT's pay-TV concessionaire TrueVisions' revenue in determining its own concession fee.

Bangkok Entertainment's revenue over the next five years is |estimated to increase by 5 per |cent next year, by 3 per cent in both the second and third years, and by 2 per cent in each of the final two years.

Revenue during the remainder of the extended concession period is expected to be flat due to the liberalisation of the TV broadcasting market.

Bangkok Entertainment generated revenue of Bt4.2 billion last year.

MCOT yesterday reported 12-per-cent growth year on year in third-quarter revenues to Bt1.2 billion. Net profit in the quarter also increased, by 13 per cent to Bt311 million.

MCOT also reported 7-per-cent revenue growth in the first nine months of the year to Bt3.3 billion. Net profit grew by 6.4 per cent to Bt984 million.