“We are making record investments in our business to help clients capitalise on the unprecedented transformation they are going through,” said Bill Thomas, Chairman, KPMG International, in a press release issued on Friday.

“We are committed to continuously improving the quality of every service we provide, recognising the vital role we perform for clients and capital markets.”

The company said its firms grew across all three geographic regions:

Americas revenues grew 6.2 per cent in FY18, up from 4.4 per cent in FY17; Asia Pacific delivered strong growth with revenues increasing 8.7 per cent in FY18, an increase on the 8.1 per cent recorded in FY17;

Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMA, including India) revenues increased 7.3 per cent in FY18, up from 4.0 per cent in FY17

“KPMG is continuing with a multi-year global investment program, investing more than US$4 billion in innovative new services, technology, and acquisitions over the next four years. This investment program is focused on transformative technologies, such as artificial intelligence and intelligent automation, cyber security, and our intelligent audit and tax platforms.” Thomas said.

“Just as we are working with our clients around the world to transform their businesses, we’re also harnessing the power of digital transformation to drive our growth and raise the level of efficiency, innovation and quality.”

At the same time, TRIS assigned a rating on AYCAL’s proposed issue of up to Bt2 billion in senior unsecured debentures at “AA”.

The proceeds from the new debentures will be used for loan repayment.

The ratings reflect the company’s market position as the leading originator of motorcycle hire-purchase loans, strong capital base and rigorous risk management system.

The ratings also take into consideration the business support and financial support AYCAL receives from Bank of Ayudhya PLC (BAY), rated “AAA” with a “stable” outlook by TRIS.

The ratings of AYCAL are enhanced by its stand-alone rating because TRIS believes the company is a strategically important subsidiary of BAY.

However, the strengths are weighed down by concerns over intense competition and potential rise in credit risk.

The company’s target customers are especially susceptible to economic downturns. In addition, there remains a significant amount of uncertainty surrounding the effect that the forthcoming regulations will have on the interest rates, fees, and market conduct of all non-bank financial institutions.

The rating reflects QTC’s moderate competitive position, growth opportunities in export markets, and predictable cash flows from the solar power segment.

However, these strengths are weighed down by the intense competition in the domestic transformer market, and the execution risks associated with new power projects.

In addition, QTC’s strategic direction remains unclear due to changes in shareholders during the past few years.

Publicis Groupe Thailand, a branch of an agency in the fields of communications, marketing and digital marketing, announced a merger with Brilliant & Million Co, Ltd, a Thai digital agency.

The business merger is an important milestone for Publicis Groupe to reflect its higher strength in digital marketing to fulfil and serve customers’ needs. The company estimated the merger will lead to a 20 per cent growth of Publicis Groupe Thailand.

Songkran Sethesompobe, Publicis CEO, said: “Publicis Groupe has been in rapid growth during the past three years. One reason is that we have kept learning and never stopped developing ourselves to catch up with the advertising industry and communication marketing that always keeps moving forward. Another thing is that we truly know what the requirements of our customers and the brands are.

“Therefore, for this year, we aim to develop and increase capabilities of our organisation and personnel in the area of digital communications by focusing on strengthening the knowledge base, expertise and experience in digital marketing communications in order to make all the companies under Publicis Groupe able to completely and effectively serve customers of all brands in the future.

“Also, we have applied the O2O (Online to Offline) marketing trends to blend the online and the offline platforms in order to effectively raise communication potentials of the two in a balancing way to fulfil customers’ business needs.

“Everybody knows that Brilliant & Million is a forefront Thailand’s digital agency that specialises in complete strategic planning through online social media and digital media. Therefore, in applying a strategy to strengthen digital marketing communication capabilities, Publicis Groupe Thailand has chosen Brilliant & Million to be part of the company. We are confident that this merger will lead to sharing of experience and in-depth expertise, as well as increasing all employees’ limits of competence for effective marketing communications towards our customers,” said Songkran.

Sorada Sonprasit, CEO of Brilliant & Million, said that “being part of Publicis Groupe is our great and crucial step. As we have seen opportunities for business development, and as well the development for our personnel that are in line with the group’s aspect, we believe that our expertise in strategic planning through online social media, digital media and technology integration, which includes online data analysis that covers establishment of relationships through joint communications on the online platform and the uses of those conversations created will help promote our understandings of the target groups’ behaviour.

“All these insights will be blended with strengths of Publicis in terms of strategies and creativity. This is for the optimum benefits of all customers, and for us to establish business sustainability and to create digital figures for the most effective team.”

The Disputes Settlement Agreement between DTAC and the state telecom agency marks an important milestone in the long-standing relationship between the two entities, according to a press release issued by DTAC on Thursday.

The agreement enables a fresh start for a new infrastructure partnership, DTAC said. This will also significantly reduce current uncertainty relating to arbitration awards and court verdicts.

The agreement does not cover the dispute over revenue sharing with regards to excise tax and the disputes over the revenue sharing with regards to the telecom network interconnection charges.