#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

CPF rides pandemic boom, expects 10 per cent revenue surge

CorporateAug 01. 2020Prasit Boondoungprasert, CPF chief executive officer

By The Nation

Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) expects revenue this year to grow by up to 10 per cent as the company has benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic and African Swine Fever (ASF).

CPF chief executive officer Prasit Boondoungprasert said the company’s first-half revenue and net profit was very good as the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide had boosted consumers’ demand for safe food, boosting the company’s sales.

“The company has won the confidence of consumers worldwide because Thailand was able to contain the spread of Covid-19,” he said.

“In addition, CP Pokphand, a CPF subsidiary, revealed that the company’s first-half net profit was expected to be at US$330 million (Bt10.230 billion), compared to US$82 million during the same period in the previous year, as the price of pork in Vietnam was high during the previous six months due to ASF, but the company was able to effectively contain the spread of the disease,” he said.

He believes that the ministries of Commerce and Agriculture and Cooperatives would achieve success in promoting Thailand to be the world’s centre for food products and the world’s top 10 food-exporting countries.

“However, it depends on cooperation between parties,” he added.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Triumph ‘not involved’ in layoffs, says has no production unit in Thailand

CorporateAug 01. 2020

By The Nation

Triumph Holding AG has denied reports about the company laying off workers, saying it has no production site in Thailand and had no involvement with the case covered by Thai media.

In a statement on Friday, Switzerland-headquartered Triumph said it had handed over its Thai production network, Body Fashion Thailand, in January 2016 to Malaysian textile and apparel entrepreneur, Robert Ng.

Ng is the owner of an internationally represented textile group consisting of around 30 companies and brands. At that time, the Malaysian’s network had been a strategic and reliable supplier of Triumph for many years. The network comprised two plants located in Bang Plee (Bangkok) and in Nakhon Sawan, Triumph said.

Triumph’s decision to divest its production centres in Thailand in 2016 was part of its long-term strategy to restructure the company’s overall global supply chain, allowing the company to focus more on its customers and market challenges, the company said.

As part of this measure, Triumph had also disengaged from all its European productions sites. In Thailand, all 2,757 employees and management were taken over, and there were no lay-offs of personnel or management, the statement said.

Triumph has a successful local sales business in Thailand. The company conducts sales and marketing activities via a local office in Bangkok, coordinating all respective activities for the Thai market.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Demand for lower-end rental condos sees big jump

CorporateAug 01. 2020

By THE NATION

Rental condos priced at under Bt15,000 a month are seeing over 20 per cent growth while there is a big drop in demand for rental units priced at above Bt25,000, an industry executive said.

Wathayut Thongphorm, managing director at Primo Service Solution, a subsidiary of Origin Property, said that the rental condominium market is growing in the price range of Bt10,000-Bt15,000 per month while condos in the range of Bt25,000 to Bt150,000 per month are seeing significant drop in customers.

“Rental condos priced lower than Bt15,000 per month are growing at over 20 per cent, especially in the BTS-MRT zones,” he said. “The reason behind this is financial institutions’ loan-to-value regulations, which limit the loans granted to each buyer. When people cannot get loan to buy property, they go for rental options instead.”

“In contrast, luxury rental condos in the range of Bt25,000 to Bt150,000 per month are suffering from a drop in customers, as their main target groups are foreign travellers and executives of multinational companies, who are not able to enter Thailand at the moment due to the Covid-19 lockdown measures,” Wathayut added. “Sales of units in this sector have plummeted by more than 50 per cent, prompting some property owners to drop their prices by 20 to 30 per cent to attract other groups of customers.”

Wathayut said that an estimate of 40 condominium projects under its management showed that the return on investment (ROI) on condos in the range of Bt10,000-Bt15,000 per month could rise to 4-5 per cent in the second half of 2020, while the ROI of luxury condos could fall from 5 per cent to 3 per cent in the same period.

“It could be the second quarter of 2021 before foreigners are allowed into the country and this segment jumps back up again,” he said.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Strong sales in China boost Apple blockbuster quarter

CorporateJul 31. 2020

By Syndication The Washington Post, Bloomberg · Bloomberg News

Apple Inc. pulled off a strong quarter in China by switching up retail tactics and pushing a cheaper iPhone, becoming one of the few U.S. tech giants to ride the country’s post-pandemic recovery despite Washington-Beijing tensions.

IPhone shipments there surged a surprising 35% in the April to June period, research firm Canalys estimates, driving a 2% rise in Greater China revenue to $9.3 billion. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said sales actually grew 6% on a constant-currency basis, propelled by demand for Macs and iPads from millions now accustomed to working from home. Its outperformance in Greater China — Apple’s single biggest international market — drove quarterly revenue well above Wall Street’s forecasts.

Apple’s strength in the world’s No. 2 economy surprised analysts who’ve seen local consumers turn increasingly to homegrown brands, at a time Washington accuses the likes of Huawei Technologies Co. and ByteDance Ltd. of spying or jeopardizing national security. Huawei — the company most squarely in Trump’s crosshairs — eclipsed Samsung Electronics Co. in global smartphone sales for the first time last quarter, thanks in large part to an upswell of home-crowd support.

Apple, whose Chinese-based suppliers employ upwards of a million people, was swift to adapt its tactics after Covid-19 emerged in February, turning to third-party distributors after shutting most of its stores. It also focused on marketing and selling online, tapping the surge of internet activity that followed a rolling nationwide lockdown.

The iPhone maker jumped aboard a plethora of online sales promotions hosted by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. in June, traditionally one of several peak spending months. Apple moved more than $72 million (500 million yuan) of devices in a single day during JD’s “6.18” shopping marathon, the Chinese company said. It probably also benefited from the introduction of a lower-cost smartphone, the iPhone SE.

“Apple defied expectations in Q2. Its new iPhone SE was critical in the quarter,” Canalys analyst Vincent Thielke said. “Apple is also demonstrating skills in new user acquisition.”

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

THAI says 80% of creditors support rehab plan

CorporateJul 31. 2020Cap: The THAI annual general shareholders’ meeting on Friday.

By The Nation

Thai Airways International’s acting president Chansin Treenuchagron said on Friday that 80 per cent of local and foreign creditors he had talked to supported the carrier’s move to enter debt restructuring under the bankruptcy court.

He said he was confident creditors would approve THAI’s rehabilitation plan following their positive response to it during negotiations.

“We have business models that I believe will help revive THAI business operations,” he said.

The Central Bankruptcy Court will begin hearing THAI’s restructuring case on August 17.

THAI, which has total debts of around Bt244 billion, has grounded most of its fleet but is still operating cargo and repatriation flights.

THAI’s annual general shareholders’ meeting on Friday acknowledged results for 2019, with total operating revenue for THAI and subsidiaries of Bt184.046 billion representing a 7.7-per-cent drop from the previous year.

However, the company made ground in cutting costs to Bt196.470 billion – Bt12.088 billion or 5.8 per cent down on the previous year.

THAI and its subsidiaries incurred a net loss of Bt12.017 billion, 3,9 per cent higher than the previous year.

At year-end 2019, THAI and subsidiaries’ total assets were Bt256.665 billion, a fall of Bt12.056 billion (4.5 per cent) on year-end 2018. Total liabilities were Bt244.899 billion, a drop of Bt3.366 billion (1.4 per cent) on December 31, 2018.

Shareholders at the meeting approved suspension of dividend payments in line with the company’s financial performance in 2019.