The company said the amount was similar to the same period last year with a gross profit margin which stood at 57.9 per cent from 53.8 per cent in the same period last year. The net profit margin at 14.7 per cent, increased from 13.4 per cent though sales revenue was reported at Bt1.91 billion, which slipped by 8.2 per cent according to pricing and promotional strategies.

However, MC reached a resolution to pay an interim dividend at Bt0.35 per share.

For the second quarter of fiscal year 2019 (October – December 2018), the company reported sales revenue of Bt1.09 billion, a fall of 7.9 per cent while gross profit margin rose from 54.3 per cent to be 56.4 per cent and net profit margin increased from 16.3 per cent to be 17.0 per cent with total net profit for this quarter of Bt190 million.

Sunee Seripanu, Chief Executive Officer said: “Thailand’s overall economic growth has continued to rely mainly on exports and tourisms which have withered under the weight of global uncertainties, e.g. economy and politics from powerful countries and disturbed by sharp decline in Chinese tourists in some periods.

“In addition, the overall retail industry has grown at declining and lower rate than GDP’s growth since year 2015. In the first half of year 2019, the big picture and direct impacts toward trade and investment are related to the political stability after the election, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) number, exports and public investments, tourism, agricultural product prices including household debt to GDP accelerated at 78 per cent due to mainly increasing of auto loan, home loan and personal loan.

“The company continues to make strategic investments in the light of an expected recovery of domestic economy during the latter half of 2019 in order to lay a strong business foundation for gaining competitive advantage, add value to its own brands for three product groups consisting of denim product sales under “Mc Jeans” brand through its collection of selvedge or self-edge or “red-edge” denim. This collection offers unique identity as it is made from sanforized denim of narrow and tightly woven fabrics processed under higher quality control compared to general fabrics. The edges of denim are woven with coloured yarns that give it a sturdier hand. Selvedge has long been considered a premium feature of denim people seek after.

“Moreover, the Company also promoted its non-denim or casual wear products led by a new brand “U-P” with its 2nd collection of monochrome and pastel wears after its premiere during the end of 2018. This new collection is suitable for people with sport casual styles who prefer one-tone looks of monochrome or fresh and comfortable tones of pastel colours. Plus, the company’s sales of fashion accessories and personal care products are still growing continuously as the Company is dedicated to creating new products that fit lifestyles of consumers and appeal to their tastes.

​Bundit Praditsuktavorn, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Development said: “The Company planned to increase its same store sales in a sustainable manner through three key strategies. (1) Value creation and brand awareness building using brand differentiation by promoting Mc’s DNA of authentic jeans through executing new marketing strategies.

“The Company recently allocated Bt20 million in marketing budget additional to its normal annual marketing budget of Bt200 million to conduct campaigns through points of sales in forms of Gift with Purchase, fun activities and special discounts. (2) Introduction of products that are in line with social trends and prefercnes of new generations of consumers in forms of both new innovations and special collections. For instance, The company launched project “Mc X” offering “Black Valentines by Mc X Jindachot” collection with the popular siblings, Ploy and Sean Jindachot. (3) Customer Relationship Management that allows the Company to leverage on its existing 650,000 members of MC Club (as of 31 December 2018).

“The company incessantly grows the membership of Mc customers and new customers which is expected to top 1 million members within a year. For this quarter, a mobile application will be launched to enable effective campaigns that are more suitable for target customer groups to improve information accessibility to be faster and more convenient anywhere at any time.

“For Omni-channel Strategy, the company adopted seamlessly connects all sales channels in a network. The company has a plan to add 40 more points of sales in 12 months to reach 1,000 points of sales within the next 2 years through its “Mc” and “mcmc Outlet Store” located inside and outside PTT gas stations.”

Moreover, the company said it will further develop its online marketplace “mcshop.com” by sourcing products from new business alliances who own world-leading brands that are popular among Thais and introducing to existing MC GROUP customer base of millions of people.

The company said it recently invested in “Mcmillion”, a integrated warehouse management and product delivery operator for e-commerce business to minimise delivery time for customers who make online purchases in order to support its long-term growth in the future.”

Bundit added: “The Company has a resolution to pay divided at Bt0.35 per share and set its ex-dividend date on 1 March 2019. The dividend payment is scheduled on 12 March 2019.”

The project is backed by Energy Absolute Plc (EA), a Thai alternative energy technology provider, which yesterday said it will work with the Marine Department to introduce the service. The partners are hailing the project as a smart transport initiative.

Amorn Sapthaweekul, director and deputy chief executive officer of Energy Absolute, said the electric ferries, under the pilot stage of the project, will be on the river by the end of this year. The service will be operated by EA and its subsidiary Energy Mahanakorn Co Ltd, which will be in charge of manufacturing the EA Anywhere-branded charging stations for the vessels.

“We pride ourselves on being Thailand’s leading innovative alternative energy company, focusing on delivering cutting-edge technology and environmental friendly solutions for better living,” said Amorn.

“Today marks a significant milestone as we launch the first 100-per cent Thai electric ferry prototype to be opened by the end of 2019. It aims to transform Thailand into a truly smart transport country, improving the standard of urban living quality and reducing pollution.”

Amorn said that after the introduction of the Thai-owned electric car, badged MINE Mobility in March last year, EA has expanded the use of its battery technology with the planned launch of electric ferries.

The vessels will run from the Nonthaburi Pier to Wat Rajsingkorn Pier. The 20km stretch of river will be covered in less than 40 minutes.

“We plan to build 54 electric boats at an investment of Bt1 billion. The transport service with the electric boats will start at the end of this year and all 54 boats will be fully operational by February next year,” said Amorn.

“What we want to do is to transform Bangkok into the Venice of the East with this smart transport initiative. We want to lift the quality of life for the urban consumers in Bangkok and reduce the city pollution caused by PM2.5,” he said, adding that the company will expand its electric ferry service to other destinations, as well as to other transport platforms.

“River transport can be used as another jigsaw connecting to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s entire public transportation network of electrical vehicles. The electric ferry project will return a good liveable city to the people of Bangkok, which is one of the most important tourism destinations in the country,” said Amorn.

The ferries, which are designed by EA, are being produced by a local supplier for the company under a subcontracting arrangement.

The ferries will run with electric energy supplied by a battery with a capacity of 800 kilowatt hours. The boats, 24 metres long by 7 metres across, will use battery technology developed by EA. They can hold about 200 passengers.

EA plans to set up a battery manufacturing plant in Chachoengsao for its electric vehicle projects.

This investment round marks the biggest pre-series A funding for a Thai startup to date.

Thanapong Na Ranong, managing director of Beacon Venture Capital, said that Jitta has the potential to become the country’s first unicorn because of its unique, proprietary core-technology that can be scaled globally, and its services are directed at the financial industry, which is a huge market globally.

“Globally, more than 50 per cent of total venture capital is invested in fintech startups compared to less than 10 per cent in Thailand, as there are fewer fintech startups here,” said Thanapong.

“Jitta is our second fintech investment after FlowAccount, but Jitta is the first wealth-tech startup for us and for the country.”

He said that the $6.5 million funding round for Jitta would help promote innovation in the country’s wealth-tech industry and prepare the company for global expansion.

Beacon VC will support Jitta in expanding its services in Thailand and abroad, enabling broader access to Jitta’s simple investment solutions, “so more people can build long-term wealth with minimal effort, which is in line with KBank’s direction”.

“Beacon VC sees a lot of growth potential for wealth-management technology, or wealth-tech, as it plays an increasingly important role amid the low interest rates,” said Thanapong.

“Jitta has exhibited the most outstanding capability to develop such technology, with its proprietary stock-analysis algorithm that’s been proven to help investors beat the market in the long run, as well as a steadily growing user base.”

Beacon VC has invested in five startups in Thailand and overseas. The firm focuses on investing in high-potential startups that can deliver value to KBank’s customers or can contribute to the bank’s business expansion. It has $135 million in funds and has invested in several technology startups such as FlowAccount in Thailand, and Grab and InstaReM in Singapore.

Trawut Luangsomboon, chief executive officer and co-founder of Jitta, said that by being in partnership with Beacon VC, Jitta can raise its innovative capabilities and become a leading wealth-tech company.

With the latest fund, Jitta will use the proceeds to expand its team of software engineers and other experts in technology and marketing.

They can conduct research and development on so-called deep technology, which includes artificial intelligence (AI) and data mining, while expanding service overseas in countries such as Singapore and India. The funds can also help the company to boost growth through the launch of a new service called Jitta Wealth.

Wealth-tech relates to ways of using technology to manage wealth. The wealth marketing potential in Thailand is around Bt 12 trillion. If Jitta were to gain just 1 per cent of that amount, this would come to Bt120 billion, Trawut said.

He did not give a timeframe for this goal.

“We would also make accessible the stock-analysis data for 95 per cent of the world’s stocks from 16 territories. Additionally, we are launching Jitta Wealth, a technology-based fund that uses the Jitta Ranking strategy and aims to provide index-beating returns in the long run,” said Trawut.

He said this long-term investment alternative would be operated by Jitta Wealth Asset Management, which is seeking a private fund licence from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and will tentatively begin operating in the second quarter of this year.

“We believe Jitta Wealth will receive a lot of interest from retail investors, due to the fuss-free service, the low management fee of 0.5 per cent per year and a fair performance fee of 10 per cent of the profits, and better returns through the use of technology,” said Trawut.

Jitta’s technology include Jitta.com, a fundamental analysis platform covering stock markets in 16 countries with over 200,000 users in 128 countries, and Jitta Wealth, an automated stock investment platform that uses Jitta Ranking strategy to deliver higher returns at lower fees and risks, said Trawut.

The Jitta Ranking strategy has been used by asset management firms to manage over Bt2.2 billion worth of assets.

RMS Studio and Multimedia is Thailand’s leading licence owner for Luk Thung music (Thai country music). The company has strong connections with more than 200 country music artists and aims to create a new phenomenon by penetrating the provincial markets.

Under the joint venture, YDM Thailand will hold a 45-per-cent stake in Jamjaras, which has a registered capital of Bt5 million. RMS holds 45 per cent while 10 per cent is held by Somyot Chairat, who is also managing director of Jamjaras Co Ltd.

The new agency is coming up with digital marketing technology that can analyse customer information to meet the needs of brands that want to penetrate the provincial market. Jamjaras aims to achieve Bt70 million in total revenue in the first year. Tanapon Subsomboon, the chief executive officer of YDM Thailand Co Ltd, said that today, the provincial market was sizeable with about Bt300 billion in consumer spending annually, making up more than 60 per cent of total consumer spending in the country.

“However, not every brand is able to penetrate the provincial market effectively. This is because provincial consumers access and use media differently. Brands that want to penetrate the provincial market effectively need to give importance to an in-depth understanding of those customers so that they are able to create differentiation in their marketing activities,” said Tanapon.

“The emergence of digital media has provided access to consumers on a massive scale, but with higher efficiency. This is because digital media can create various [types of] content with greater specificity. It can cater to provincial consumers, who have many choices and enjoy greater opportunity to consume media that they prefer,” Tanapon said.

“Regarding the online channel, we have found the amount of time spent by provincial consumers is not very different from people in urban areas, but there are differences in content, the style of music and artists, soap opera and other TV programmes. Jamjaras will be another choice for brands that want to communicate differently with provincial consumers and also get a different result,” Tanapon said.

Somyot said the key strength of Jamjaras is the agency has a good understanding of consumers in the provincial market. The company has a strong digital marketing tool provided by YDM Thailand for analysing insights regarding provincial consumers. The company is also a partner of RMS, which owns the largest number of licences for Luk Thung music in Thailand, and also has a strong connection with Luk Thung artists like Fon Thanasoonthorn, Leew Ajareeya, Film Narinthip, Yingyong Yodbuangarm, Arpaporn Nakhonsawan, Poyfai Malaiporn, Kik Rungnapa, Mocca Garden and Phatthalung Band, he said.

“Compared to urban consumers, those who live in provincial areas have different beliefs, lifestyles and occupations, as well as art and cultural roots. These result in differences both in behaviour and the way they choose to buy and consume products and services. The provincial market is primarily an agricultural society. They love fun and their lives are rooted in nature. They don’t have as much choice for entertainment when compared to urban consumers,” said Somyot.

Stephan Kurzawski, senior vice president of Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, said in an exclusive interview that the presence of Asian companies in their events around the world has been on the rise for the past few years. Chinese companies at the recent Ambiente19, for example, had the largest representation based on the number of exhibitors to the world’s largest trade fair for consumer goods, which was held in Frankfurt from

“Asia has great potential because most of its markets are growing,” he said. “Many Asian companies are committed to broaden their horizons so they join our trade fairs.”

According to Kurzawski, the firm plays a vital role in boosting international trade by linking high quality manufacturers with international distribution giants. Every month, the firm organises large events around the world in different categories. It employs a workforce of 2,500 at 30 sites and generates annual revenue of around 715 million euros (Bt25.3 trillion). Its services include renting exhibition premises, trade fair construction and marketing, human resources and food services.

“We believe in the power of partnerships. That is why we have sales agents around the globe. Our partners and representatives span across more than 160 countries, dealing with their respective governments,” he said.

“Our partners are very important to us because we do not have market knowledge in every single country. We cannot do many things alone. With their support, we manage to hold a lot of block-busting shows worldwide.”

According to Kurzawski, Asia’s big markets including China, Japan, Korea and India could contribute hugely to the firm’s presence outside Europe. Yet, the firm is not neglecting smaller markets, including Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, as the Asean market continues its growth. Due to this, the firm has appointed Su Shwe Nadi Trading Co as their official representative for Myanmar.

“In a small market like Myanmar, only a few companies would need a world-class trade show. Also, they must have the products that can be sold to the world on a very large scale. They need to be sure that they can produce enough to meet the global demand,” he said.

“Ambiente is like a big ocean. If you are jumping into the water, make sure that you can swim. It does not make sense if you want to go to the Ambiente without proper preparation. For businesses, preparation is much more important than participation.”

In light of Asian companies getting stronger, Messe Frankfurt has chosen India as its partner country for this year’s Ambiente. Driven by its huge market size and productivity, India will be the last in the series, as the firm has decided to stop its partner-country concept, aiming to put more emphasis on designs instead.

“We will have a similar concept but it will focus on designs. We want to stay as No 1 in the categories we represent and we have made a lot of small changes in our concepts. This is our challenge,” said Kurzawski.

“Bringing together buyers and sellers is the principal aim of our events. But, it is not the only one. We have more objectives, such as getting people to know what is trending, what is new and what will come. This will help them put the stuff together to meet the needs of the world market in the future,” he said.

The firm also prioritises the protection of intellectual property rights by exhibitors and innovators. Since 2006, an initiative named “Messe Frankfurt Against Copying” has been in place to ensure that innovations are well protected at their trade fairs.

In response to the rise of digitisation in the retail sector, the firm has developed “nextrade”, a digital B2B (business to business) marketplace for the consumer goods industry in cooperation with nmedia. To set up the initiative, nmedia will migrate its entire portfolio of 1,000 retailers and 500 suppliers from the EDI (electronic data interchange) to the new marketplace, and Messe Frankfurt will acquire new suppliers and retailers who want to be part of the marketplace.

“This will allow buyers to spend more time on exhibitions. We need to help our clients jump into the digital world without forgetting participating in the old world of exhibitions,” said Kurzawski.