Mobile arms give Shin a leg-up

Thai communications and media holding group Shin Corp, controlled by Singapore’s Temasek, has reported that its net profit in 2007 decreased by 6.3% to THB3.1 billion (USD101 million), on revenues of THB22.8 billion, down by THB142 million year-on-year. The firm’s share of the net results of leading Thai mobile network operator Advanced Info Services (AIS) contributed 30.2% of total revenues. AIS, which has already reported its results separately, finished the year with a total of 24.1 million GSM users, an annual rise of 23%. In Laos, Lao Telecommunications Company (LTC), 49%-owned by Shin’s Shenington Investments unit, saw mobile subscribers increase by 28.7% year-on-year to 700,306 at the end of December, primarily due to expansion following increased marketing activities targeted at low-usage subscribers. LTC’s mobile ARPU increased by 10% whist its number of fixed PSTN subscribers increased by just 0.1% in the year. In Cambodia, Camshin, wholly owned by Shenington Investments, increased its mobile user base by 72.1% in 2007 to 469,514, again driven by marketing aimed at low-end pre-paid customers. Camshin’s mobile ARPU decreased 12.1% on an annual basis, primarily as a result of the introduction of promotional packages following increased competition. Shin Corp also has a stake in Thailand’s largest dial-up ISP, CS Loxinfo, which launched ADSL services in 2006.