Samart Group announces its business recovery in 2022, speculating all businesses, especially those related to the country’s reopening policy and infrastructure development will achieve higher growth rate than the previous year.
Samart Telcoms sets to gain new projects worth no less than Bt10 billion in 2022. In the first quarter of the year, projects valued more than Bt3 billion have already been signed.
Samart Digital (SDC) also shows the recovery trend with its recurring income received from the Digital Trunked Radio System (DTRS) business and the growing revenue from Digital Content & Service business.
To enhance business agility and the efficiency in operating a new digital lifestyle business, a new start-up, LUCKY Heng Heng, was established to oversee the provision of astrological and merit-related services.
Mr. Watchai Vilailuck, the Executive Vice Chairman, Corporate Strategy and New Business Development at Samart Corporation Plc., said the group’s performance in the first quarter of 2022 is on track as planned. Its outstanding project is to complete the delivery of the Excise Department’s Direct Coding Project, the development of a taxation system to improve the efficiency of excise tax collection for beers produced and distributed in Thailand, worth at Bt8 billion.
The project started to provide the code printing service to breweries throughout the country on May 1. It’s expected that revenue generated from this project will reach Bt600 million this year.
Samart’s U-Trans Business also presents a positive recovery especially for Cambodia Air Traffic Services Co., Ltd. (CATS), thanks to the 38-per-cent increase in the number of flights in the first quarter of 2022.
ICT Business, Mr. Watchai added, is showing outstanding growth with a plan to gain new projects worth Bt11 billion in 2022. Just in the first quarter of the year, new contracts worth more than Bt3 billion have been signed, making a backlog at the end of the first quarter of 2022 achieve Bt8 billion. Samart also focuses on the delivery of four highlighted solutions including:
•Financial and Banking Solution: Plan calls for the expanding of Smart Branch outsourcing service for the next phase.
•Solutions for Utility Sector: Plan to provide e-Meter for small power users nationwide is set along with the expansion of enterprise resource planning (ERP) customer base to cover other utility sectors.
•E-Payment Solution: Delivering a facilitated platform that can connect digital wallets across diverse platforms to make a payment with all merchants.
•Cyber Security Solution: Expanding customer base to cover the utility sector, banks and other sectors.
To make a balance on Samart Digital’s business portfolio, Mr. Watchai said SDC mainly focuses on its two key businesses to accelerate the company’s revenue growth; the Digital Trunked Radio System (DTRS) business and the Digital Content & Service business.
DTRS business emphasizes on generating recurring income from monthly fee and rental fee of DTRS clients. Currently, the service is provided to two large-sized agencies; the Ministry of Interior and the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), which occupy the use of 85,000 DTRS clients combined. By the end of this year, the demand for DTRS clients is expected to reach 115,000.
Digital Content & Service business, on the other hand, focuses on creating the growing revenue in line with the digital trend and a new digital lifestyle. The company will deliver content and services related to astrology and merit-making; sports; and lifestyle through comprehensive and easy-to-use mobile applications.
Recently, SDC has set up a new company, LUCKY Heng Heng, to oversee the provision of astrological and merit-related services. To enhance business agility, the new company is operated through fundraising and run under start-up management model to serve the new generation’s working style.
LUCKY Heng Heng is now offering one-stop online astrological services including live horoscope, physiognomy, feng shui and auspicious dates and times finding on Horoworld mobile application.
The company will soon launch a new application, called Thai Merit, to allow merit makers to pay respect to the Buddha, donate money, redeem a vow, take a fortune stick as well as worshiping sacred objects from every temple and every holy place at anytime and anywhere through the online platform.
Apart from putting hard efforts to recapture business from the economic and the epidemic crisis, Mr. Watchai affirmed that Samart always looks for new business opportunities to build the group a strong foundation to achieve sustainable growth.
“We also find ways to lessen financial burdens while increasing investment flexibility. Earlier this year, we issued debentures and we’re now studying a process to set up a new Infrastructure Fund to mobilize funds for the DTRS project. Any progress will be informed further,” Mr. Watchai said.
