The new ‘beauty centre’ model will allow Wuttisak to better explore its business opportunities in the launch of new beauty innovations and store expansion.

Curently, Wuttisak’s clinic business is subjected to certain regulations, making it more difficult to penetrate the market than beauty centres, according to Gwyn.

Wuttisak also plans to expand Wuttisak beauty centres to overseas markets, starting from CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam), through franchising to local partners.

“Wuttisak clinics made approximately Bt200 million a year in revenue. We plan to have a total of 25 beauty centres by the end of this year,” said Gwyn, who joined the company in November last year.

Wuttisak currently operates 19 clinics in Thailand.

“Our new model focuses on a variety of new businesses to reach more beauty segments. We will maintain our core strength in the quality of products, services and affordability. Wuttisak already enjoys high brand awareness among the consumers, so we are going to keep that and continue to enhance our capabilities,” said Gwyn.

“We plan to increase the number of clinics to 25 branches while continuing to renovate, upscale and reformat the premises under the concept of “Beauty Living” (promoting beauty from inside out), which, to simply put, will be a place where customers can relax and take care of their looks without having to see a doctor,” he said.

“At Wuttisak’s beauty centres, we will also offer cosmetics and other types of products, such as food supplement and functional food. The beauty centre business model aims for higher profit and higher possibility for expansion,” said Gwyn.

“The beauty clinic business has very high growth potential but also a high volatility rate. The business is ever-changing, so it is important that Wuttisak remains flexible and adaptable to the changes in business climate.

Gwyn said that Wuttisak plans to expand its beauty centres to potential overseas markets, starting from the CLMV countries.

Most of the establishments will be operated through franchising . The business will most likely be in the format of a beauty centre which would generate higher profit than a clinic and requires less amount of investment.

Gwyn also urged the next government to provide economic stability and create an environment that supports and attracts investors.

The centre’s management yesterday announced the upcoming launch of what it calls “edutainment magnets” to back its marketing concept for the complex as the “great meeting place”.

The centre management said the new attractions would help to entice customers to stay at the complex for a whole day. These attractions include Harbor Land and the Movement Playground, and the newly revamped Mega Smart Kids zone backed by more than 17 educational institutes, along with the Mega Park green space.

Paphitchaya Suwandee, president of Megabangna Shopping Centre, said the new attractions would reinforce the “meeting place” concept for the centre as a shopping destination and social space for young and old, “providing generations of families with the opportunity to meet each other and enjoy activities together”, ranging from eating and shopping to leisure activities.

 “Megabangna is preparing to continuously launch edutainment magnets this year to ensure that visitors will spend a longer time immersing themselves in diverse activities beyond shopping, aiming to be a space where all aspects of life experience are fulfilled,” Paphitchaya said.

“In the previous year, Megabangna boasted a 15 per cent increase in the number of visitors, which helped increase spending in a continuous and sustainable pattern in preparation for the development of Megacity, a mixed-use complex on 400 rai on Bangna-Trat Road.

“With the aim of becoming a large city with a complete range of |facilities, Megacity has an investment budget of over Bt67 billion, |which will allow it to cater to the economic growth in the Bangna area as well as the completion of phases II, III and IV of Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2021.”

Paphitchaya said that this year Megabangna has recommitted itself to the marketing vision of ‘the great meeting place of eastern Bangkok”.

“We are using this idea to drive the development of the centre and change perception of visitors,” said Paphitchaya.

“We see Megabangna as a place where people find new experiences and as a place accessible to everyone. We have divided the experiences we are looking to provide into three magnet groups.”

She said that Megabangna is also planning to strengthen its offerings of educational institutes and tutoring schools by expanding the Mega Smart Kids zone. It will bring in schools such as The Kick, Dance Space, Robot’s Child, I Can Read!, Chefu Town and Kid’s Act. These will bring the total number of tutoring schools in Megabangna to 17.

“The launches of new magnets in the first quarter will strengthen Megabangna’s position as a complete edutainment centre truly for every family member,” Paphitchaya said.

“It will also boost the visitation to Megabangna and help us reach new visitor groups, extend our customers’ dwell time, and increase customer spending.”

She said that Megabangna is in the initial phase of transitioning from a shopping centre into the mixed-use Megacity development.

“The aim for Megacity is for it to become a large city with a complete range of facilities. At the moment, our main focus is to complete the construction and strengthen Megabangna as the great meeting place of eastern Bangkok,” said Paphitchaya, adding that Megacity is the long-term project for 14 years.

“In the past two years, we proceeded with our plan to develop Megacity as a mixed-used project of over 400 rai. At the moment, we have already developed 250 rai and have received great responses from large numbers of customers, partners and investors. Paphitchaya said that in 2018, Megabangna achieved 46 million visits.

“In 2019, we expected that after the completion of the edutainment zone, the visitation will increase by 10 per cent compared to last year,” she said. “Megabangna will be the meeting place as a shopping attraction and social space for every family member across the generations. Megabangna will be the centre of Megacity, with traffic from the project support each magnet.”

“Megacity will eventually become a complete and large city capable of supporting all aspects of life, with Megabangna as its centre. Megacity will provide residential spaces, offices, shopping venues and many other facilities. The project has a high potential and will stand out in competition, as it is ready to cater to all needs.”

She said that year Megabangna donated Bt95 million for the construction of a U-turn overpass on Bangna-Trat Road at Km.7 to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce traffic accidents.

“The bridge is part of the eastern highway network, which caters to the growing economy and purchasing power in Bangna. We are developing a strategic hub for the transportation of the future,” she said.

Paphitchaya said that major challenges of doing business today come in the form of digital disruption.

“This is a new trend that is impacting retail businesses, including e-payment, e-commerce, and customer digital lifestyles,” she said. “This may impact our business if customers don’t want to go to shopping malls anymore, because they can shop via mobile applications with delivery services to their home.”

As a determined effort to build a vital foundation for life, while promoting self-development and future development of the country, Panasonic provides 10 three-year scholarships annually. These are worth a total of Bt1,350,000. Scholarship recipients have no obligation upon graduation.

Hidekazu Ito, CEO of Panasonic Group in Thailand, said that Panasonic has a commitment to social contributions. Our policy from our founder Konosuke Matsuhita is “We make people before making product”.

As part of this, the engineering scholarships cover seven fields of study, including Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering and Chemical Engineering. Language learning is also included in each scholarship so that recipients can be able to further improve professional skill and enhance self-development”.

“To date, we have been providing scholarships to engineering students in Thailand for five consecutive years. I would like to congratulate 10 students on being selected for the scholarship program this year and welcome all of them to our Panasonic Family,” said the CEO.

Electrical Engineering students from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Orathai Kruthun, Chokanan Kawkanlaya and Sirakhup Buakhiao, expressed their appreciation for receiving these scholarships.

They said, “We will make the most of it, and upon graduation, we intend to apply the knowledge and skills we have learned from the university to further develop our society and the country.”

Scholarship recipients from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Sirikorn Saosawan (Chemical Engineering) and Nifaroog Hayeewangoh (Mechanical Engineering), said they were very delighted receiving the scholarships.

They also expressed gratitude to the management of Panasonic for giving importance to education and support Thai students to pursue their advanced studies in engineering. They promised to study hard as a symbol of appreciation for the support they receive.

Kasetsart University’s Mechanical Engineering students, Narin Punthong and Bhunthawit Chindawat, said, “We are delighted and very thankful to Panasonic. Apart from three-year university tuition fees, each scholarship also covers language learning tuitions. It’s a great offer as language competency is extremely important today. It is definitely useful for us.”

Khon Kaen University’s students, Kodchakorn Khemtonglang (Chemical Engineering) and Chanikan Kaewthong (Computer Engineering), said, “We are very pleased receiving the scholarships from Panasonic. In addition to being a good encouragement for us, these can help cut our family expenses. We will study hard and upon graduation, we will use knowledge to build a better self, repay our parents and contribute to Thai society.”

Chittawon Augsorn, a Chemical Engineering student from King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, said, “I would like to thank Panasonic for providing the scholarships. It’s a good opportunity in my life. I will try to do my best in my study. A piece of advice I would like to give to my juniors is that if you are awarded a scholarship like us, you should study hard and do your best. You can keep yourself informed about the Panasonic scholarship program. The scholarship application opens annually.”

The investments are aimed at providing a holistic end-to-end mobile banking experience and becoming the number one bank in the country for retail banking services, Goto said.

“To enhance customer experience and increase customer engagement, we will continue to improve our various digital services such as digital lending, QR code payments and AI chatbots,” he said.

“Our target for Krungsri Mobile Application (KMA) users for 2019 is 5 million, doubling from 2.5 million in 2018. We aim to bring a majority of KMA customers onboard with our digital lending service,” he stated.

Krungsri’s target net interest margin (NIM) for 2019 stands at between 3.4 to 3.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the bank’s non-interest income is expected to increase by around 3.5 per cent this year, compared to the year-on-year 7.5-per-cent growth seen in 2018. This is due to the slower economic growth expected in 2019.

Krungsri forecasts that the Kingdom’s gross domestic product will grow 4.1 per cent in 2019 compared to last year’s 4.3 per cent, according to the bank’s CEO.

The bank’s non-performing loans (NPLs) are expected to be maintained at lower than 2.5 per cent in 2019.

Krungsri expects the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to hike the policy rate once in mid-2019, increasing the interest rate from 1.75 to 2 per cent.

Goto cautioned that the BOT’s new macro-prudential guidelines would negatively impact Krungsri’s mortgage loans.

“A 10-per-cent decrease in mortgage loans is expected due to the impact of the BOT’s new macro-prudential guidelines, which will become active in April this year,” he said.

Under the new rules, the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio will be restricted to 80 per cent on new mortgages for homes worth more than Bt10 million. The same LTV restrictions will apply for the purchase of a second home, irrespective of the property value. Banks also will be prohibited from providing advances that exceed the value of a property.

“In our investment banking services, we will focus our investment portfolios on sustainability to cope with the less-certain market conditions in 2019,” he said, citing the ongoing US-China trade war and prospects of rising interest rates as key risk factors.

THAI president Sumeth Damrongchaitham said the flagship airline had no financial problem and the meeting yesterday considered the worthiness of Nok Air’s business operations before making the decision to subscribe to the rights issue.

THAI holds a 21.80-per-cent stake in Nok Air.

Subscription for Nok Air’s new shares end today.

Nok Air was required to raise capital after its shareholders’ equity slid into negative territory. Operations could run into problems if it were not increased, said Prawet Ongartsitthikul, acting chief executive officer of the budget carrier.

On January 22, 2019, Nok Air gained approval at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to increase its registered capital and offer about 908.8 million new shares to existing shareholders at Bt2.75 apiece to raise about Bt2.5 billion.

About 2.5 existing shares are eligible for one new share. The rights subscription period was set from January 31 to February 6.

The proceeds will be used as working capital for Nok Air’s business operation plan, including improvement of fleet, and extension of routes and aviation network amidst high competition.

The THAI board had approved Nok Air’s planned capital increase, while the THAI board and management viewed Nok Air as a part of THAI’s strategy with a clear business linkage.

“Now, the [THAI] board and management have established a closer linkage between THAI’s and Nok Air’s business plans. Nok Air remains an important strategy as an aviation hub at Don Mueang International Airport. THAI and Thai Smile Airways will focus on the hub at Suvarnabhumi Airport,” a THAI source said.

The proceeds will be used as working capital for Nok Air’s business operation plan, including improvement of fleet, and extension of routes and aviation network amidst high competition.

Nok Air will push its plan to cut expenses, boost income and restructure its organisation, said Prawet. He said that after this capital increase, Nok Air’s operations would improve and it would stop making losses by the end of this year before building stability and sustainable growth.

In order to stop making a loss, Nok Air this year plans on increasing codesharing flights, forging greater cooperation with Nokscoot Airline, a medium to long-haul budget airline which is a joint venture between Singaporean budget airline Scoot and Nok Air.

Nok Air will also increase its routes to India and also open routes to Japan, while signing a memorandum of understanding with THAI for cooperation as THAI Group.

The financially struggling budget airline also intends to cut cost, adjust its fleet with a planned decommissioning of two ATR aircraft so that it will have only two aircraft models – 15 Boeing 737 aircraft and eight Q800 aircraft. This year, ground expenses are set to be cut by 25-33 per cent.