Mr. Kamol Juntima, Chairman of the Board, IT CITY Public Company Limited reported the year 2009’s first 9 months company’s performance that the company’s total revenue was 4,165.59 million Baht with the negative growth of 8.21% and the net profit of 121.27 million Baht with the negative growth of 15.81% comparing to the same period of the year 2008.
As for the third quarter of the year 2009, the company shown the total revenue of 1,566.83 million Baht with the negative growth of 4.03% and the net profit of 58.15 million Baht with the growth of 1.67% comparing to the same period of the year 2008.
The key reasons for the negative growth of the company’s operation during the first nine months was the slow down of the entire Thai economy which incline to have a better improvement in the fourth quarter. The overall of business operation as well as the competitive capability of company is still in the satisfactory level. Today, IT CITY has received the direct support from both domestic and foreign suppliers, we are the comprehensive center for IT products, abreast of the time and focus on the IT retail business that we are specialist which will make us reach the Economy of Scale and be able to provide the quality to serve both consumer and SMEs customers that require the IT products to increase their business and learning ability.
In the third quarter of the year 2009, the company had expanded 2 new branches namely Pantip-Bangkapi and Saraburi province. Moreover, IT CITY will open another 2 new branches at Singhaburi province and Chacheongsao province in the fourth quarter from the existing 36 branches now. Moreover, we will provide more products with the latest technology as well as control the company’s expenditure appropriately to the economic situation and the company’s revenue capability.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
BIG RISE IN PIRACY, ILLEGAL DOWNLOADS HITS DVD-MAKERS
Manufacturers of home-entertainment products, especially DVD movies, have been hit by a huge increase in piracy during the recession.
Home-entertainment products are normally assumed to enjoy higher sales during a downturn, as consumers spend more time indoors and enjoy online games and DVDs and VCDs.
However, Oraphan Monphichit Pavaravadhana, vice president - acquisition and distribution at Rose Media & Entertainment, said the company's sales of VCD and DVD movies are expected to drop by between 60 and 70 per cent this year, due to economic factors and continuous piracy problems, including the increased availability of pirated VCDs and DVDs and a jump in illegal downloads.
Rose Media's sales of cartoon VCDs and DVDs are expected to decline by at least 50 per cent this year, she said.
"Young people are now addicted to TV and computer screens and mobile telephones. They can stay at home and download movie content immediately, and with good picture quality," said Oraphan.
She added that the company expected the contribution from VCD and DVD products to decline gradually and be replaced by such digital services as mobile streaming, Internet Protocol TV (iPTV), video-on-demand and pay-per-view services.
She said Rose Media had recently launched mobile streaming of its "Gang Cartoon" content in cooperation with Advanced Info Service.
The company has also launched a 24-hour Gang Cartoon satellite-TV channel.
"What we have to do right now is to build our Gang Cartoon brand and promote loyalty to the brand, which is created especially for all cartoon lovers," said Oraphan.
"We are also discussing with many partners new business opportunities to deliver our enriched movie and cartoon content via new digital media channels such as iPTV and video-on-demand."
She said the company expected the sales contribution from physical VCD and DVD products to drop gradually from the current 60-70 per cent to less than 20 per cent in the next two to three years.
This follows the trend in other markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan, where home-entertainment industries have been dominated by new digital media. Rose Media expects to achieve about Bt600 million in sales this year.
Krit Sakulpanich, managing director of Dream Express, which has the local broadcasting and distribution rights for many well-known animations and super-hero TV series from Japan, said the company's sales of VCDs had dropped by 30 per cent from the same period last year. Nine-month DVD sales remained stagnant.
"During the economic difficulties, we have seen a larger number of illegal downloads of our cartoon and TV-series content. As well, the number of pirated VCD and DVD products has increased dramatically in such locations as Klong Thom, Sapanlek, Ban Mo and Seacon Square," said Krit.
He said some pirated DVDs - with five movies on one disc - were now available on the black market at just Bt50 to Bt100 each.
"What we have to do to fight the piracy is to reshuffle ourselves by adding other new products, such as apparel and accessories, into our portfolio," he said.
Krit said Dream Express would launch 10 new licensed animations and super-hero TV series from Japan next year. They include "Gundam Double O", "Ultraman Mebius", "Phone Braver 7", "Bakugan New Vestroia", "Mask Rider Kiva", "The Salads World" and "Pretty Cure 3".
Sakeson Thammawon, general manager of Dream Apparel, a wholly owned unit of Dream Express set up for the sale of licensed clothing tied in to animation and super-hero TV series, said the company would next year open its own sales counters at leading department stores.
The company's apparel and accessory products are now selling via wholesale and hypermarket channels.
"We plan to double the number of stock-keeping units for our apparel and accessory products next year. There are currently more than 100 SKUs in our apparel and accessories portfolio," said Sakeson.
Dream Apparel expects to achieve Bt40 million in sales this year, which will contribute 20 per cent of Dream Express's overall sales. The company expects clothing sales to grow by almost 50 per cent next year.
Dream Express expects its sales to reach Bt200 million this year, which is about the same as last year.
Home-entertainment products are normally assumed to enjoy higher sales during a downturn, as consumers spend more time indoors and enjoy online games and DVDs and VCDs.
However, Oraphan Monphichit Pavaravadhana, vice president - acquisition and distribution at Rose Media & Entertainment, said the company's sales of VCD and DVD movies are expected to drop by between 60 and 70 per cent this year, due to economic factors and continuous piracy problems, including the increased availability of pirated VCDs and DVDs and a jump in illegal downloads.
Rose Media's sales of cartoon VCDs and DVDs are expected to decline by at least 50 per cent this year, she said.
"Young people are now addicted to TV and computer screens and mobile telephones. They can stay at home and download movie content immediately, and with good picture quality," said Oraphan.
She added that the company expected the contribution from VCD and DVD products to decline gradually and be replaced by such digital services as mobile streaming, Internet Protocol TV (iPTV), video-on-demand and pay-per-view services.
She said Rose Media had recently launched mobile streaming of its "Gang Cartoon" content in cooperation with Advanced Info Service.
The company has also launched a 24-hour Gang Cartoon satellite-TV channel.
"What we have to do right now is to build our Gang Cartoon brand and promote loyalty to the brand, which is created especially for all cartoon lovers," said Oraphan.
"We are also discussing with many partners new business opportunities to deliver our enriched movie and cartoon content via new digital media channels such as iPTV and video-on-demand."
She said the company expected the sales contribution from physical VCD and DVD products to drop gradually from the current 60-70 per cent to less than 20 per cent in the next two to three years.
This follows the trend in other markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan, where home-entertainment industries have been dominated by new digital media. Rose Media expects to achieve about Bt600 million in sales this year.
Krit Sakulpanich, managing director of Dream Express, which has the local broadcasting and distribution rights for many well-known animations and super-hero TV series from Japan, said the company's sales of VCDs had dropped by 30 per cent from the same period last year. Nine-month DVD sales remained stagnant.
"During the economic difficulties, we have seen a larger number of illegal downloads of our cartoon and TV-series content. As well, the number of pirated VCD and DVD products has increased dramatically in such locations as Klong Thom, Sapanlek, Ban Mo and Seacon Square," said Krit.
He said some pirated DVDs - with five movies on one disc - were now available on the black market at just Bt50 to Bt100 each.
"What we have to do to fight the piracy is to reshuffle ourselves by adding other new products, such as apparel and accessories, into our portfolio," he said.
Krit said Dream Express would launch 10 new licensed animations and super-hero TV series from Japan next year. They include "Gundam Double O", "Ultraman Mebius", "Phone Braver 7", "Bakugan New Vestroia", "Mask Rider Kiva", "The Salads World" and "Pretty Cure 3".
Sakeson Thammawon, general manager of Dream Apparel, a wholly owned unit of Dream Express set up for the sale of licensed clothing tied in to animation and super-hero TV series, said the company would next year open its own sales counters at leading department stores.
The company's apparel and accessory products are now selling via wholesale and hypermarket channels.
"We plan to double the number of stock-keeping units for our apparel and accessory products next year. There are currently more than 100 SKUs in our apparel and accessories portfolio," said Sakeson.
Dream Apparel expects to achieve Bt40 million in sales this year, which will contribute 20 per cent of Dream Express's overall sales. The company expects clothing sales to grow by almost 50 per cent next year.
Dream Express expects its sales to reach Bt200 million this year, which is about the same as last year.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
DOPE, THE MUNCHIES AND ADVERTISING
After US Attorney-General Eric H Holder Jr announced in March that he would end the Bush administration practice of frequently raiding medical marijuana dispensaries, the dispensaries have been growing, appropriately enough, like weeds.
Among the 14 states with medical marijuana laws, Colorado has experienced particularly brisk growth in the stores. From fewer than two dozen dispensaries in the state in January, there are now more than 60 just in Denver and nearby Boulder, and more than 10,000 registered medical marijuana patients statewide, according to reports in Westword , a Denver alternative weekly.When Westword announced recently that it would hire a registered patient to write reviews of the dispensaries (for a column called "Mile Highs and Lows''), it received 400 applications, according to Patricia Calhoun, its editor. And dispensary owners called ganjapreneurs in a recent headline in the weekly - are placing ads, accounting for nearly seven pages of advertising in a recent 92-page issue.
Now a business that has nothing to do with cannabis is aiming its ads at medical marijuana patients.A new print ad - by TDA Advertising and Design of Boulder - for Hapa Sushi, a restaurant chain based in Boulder, features a map of Denver and Boulder with 63 dots.Four dots are red, rep- resenting the four Hapa locations, and the remaining 59 are blue, representing medical marijuana dispensaries, some of which,it turns out, are just a stone's throw from the restaurants. The ad was to appear on Thursday in the Denver/Boulder edition of The Onion and in Westword later in the month.
"We're just kind of saying:'Look, these dispensaries exist and they're becoming part of our community, so let's welcome them in and have some fun','' said Mark Van Grack,owner of Hapa Sushi, a privately held,10-yearold chain. "If you're going to smoke pot,you're going to get the munchies, so come to Hapa to eat.''
As in most Hapa advertising over the years,something is conspicuously absent from these ads - food.
"Most restaurants show food, but then you're just one of a hundred,'' Mr Van Grack said.
"We think that our clientele appreciates smart ads that grab their attention. By creating ads that people want to talk about, that are creative and maybe controversial, then at least they are talking about our ads and Hapa is top of mind.''
Jonathan Schoenberg, the creative director at TDA, said of the Hapa ads:"We
try to keep these guys in a culturally
significant place.''
In 2007, when Barry Bonds hit his 755th home run to tie Hank Aaron's record (which Bonds soon broke), the agency created a Hapa print ad
that alluded to allegations of steroid use by Bonds.
"Congratulations Hank Aaron on 755
home runs,'' the ad declared.Smaller print below added:``Organic beef and chicken,no added steroids.'' An Associated Press wire story about the ad was reprinted in publications throughout the country, and some readers were not amused.
"I had some guy from San Francisco call me every day for a week because he was offended by the ad,'' said Mr Schoenberg. "But he lived in San Francisco, so we didn't care.''
Van Grack, Hapa's owner, recently came up with a marketing stunt on his own, with no help from his agency.
Last month, Boulder's police chief, Mark Beckner, announced a crackdown on a 10-year-old tradition, the Naked Pumpkin Run, in which as many as 100 runners wearing only footwear and pumpkins over their heads streak through the city. The chief said participants would be arrested and charged as sex offenders, a threat that had teeth because a dozen runners were arrested last year.
In response, Mr Van Grack had about 100 pairs of orange briefs and thongs printed with the Hapa logo and the words "Run Responsibly''.
Restaurant representatives stationed along the streaking route on Halloween night planned to distribute them.
Only three runners took part, however,and they had already heeded the police and wore skimpy bottoms.
But while the runners were not exposed,the restaurant had plenty of exposure.The Wall Street Journal mentioned Hapa Sushi in a front-page article about the Naked Pumpkin Run hubbub.
The restaurant also was named on websites including The Huffington Post , not to mention local television and print coverage.
"We salute Hapa owner Mark Van Grack,who clearly knows when to serve things raw - and when to take cover,'' Mr Calhoun, the newspaper editor, wrote in a blog post on Westword.com.
Among the 14 states with medical marijuana laws, Colorado has experienced particularly brisk growth in the stores. From fewer than two dozen dispensaries in the state in January, there are now more than 60 just in Denver and nearby Boulder, and more than 10,000 registered medical marijuana patients statewide, according to reports in Westword , a Denver alternative weekly.When Westword announced recently that it would hire a registered patient to write reviews of the dispensaries (for a column called "Mile Highs and Lows''), it received 400 applications, according to Patricia Calhoun, its editor. And dispensary owners called ganjapreneurs in a recent headline in the weekly - are placing ads, accounting for nearly seven pages of advertising in a recent 92-page issue.
Now a business that has nothing to do with cannabis is aiming its ads at medical marijuana patients.A new print ad - by TDA Advertising and Design of Boulder - for Hapa Sushi, a restaurant chain based in Boulder, features a map of Denver and Boulder with 63 dots.Four dots are red, rep- resenting the four Hapa locations, and the remaining 59 are blue, representing medical marijuana dispensaries, some of which,it turns out, are just a stone's throw from the restaurants. The ad was to appear on Thursday in the Denver/Boulder edition of The Onion and in Westword later in the month.
"We're just kind of saying:'Look, these dispensaries exist and they're becoming part of our community, so let's welcome them in and have some fun','' said Mark Van Grack,owner of Hapa Sushi, a privately held,10-yearold chain. "If you're going to smoke pot,you're going to get the munchies, so come to Hapa to eat.''
As in most Hapa advertising over the years,something is conspicuously absent from these ads - food.
"Most restaurants show food, but then you're just one of a hundred,'' Mr Van Grack said.
"We think that our clientele appreciates smart ads that grab their attention. By creating ads that people want to talk about, that are creative and maybe controversial, then at least they are talking about our ads and Hapa is top of mind.''
Jonathan Schoenberg, the creative director at TDA, said of the Hapa ads:"We
try to keep these guys in a culturally
significant place.''
In 2007, when Barry Bonds hit his 755th home run to tie Hank Aaron's record (which Bonds soon broke), the agency created a Hapa print ad
that alluded to allegations of steroid use by Bonds.
"Congratulations Hank Aaron on 755
home runs,'' the ad declared.Smaller print below added:``Organic beef and chicken,no added steroids.'' An Associated Press wire story about the ad was reprinted in publications throughout the country, and some readers were not amused.
"I had some guy from San Francisco call me every day for a week because he was offended by the ad,'' said Mr Schoenberg. "But he lived in San Francisco, so we didn't care.''
Van Grack, Hapa's owner, recently came up with a marketing stunt on his own, with no help from his agency.
Last month, Boulder's police chief, Mark Beckner, announced a crackdown on a 10-year-old tradition, the Naked Pumpkin Run, in which as many as 100 runners wearing only footwear and pumpkins over their heads streak through the city. The chief said participants would be arrested and charged as sex offenders, a threat that had teeth because a dozen runners were arrested last year.
In response, Mr Van Grack had about 100 pairs of orange briefs and thongs printed with the Hapa logo and the words "Run Responsibly''.
Restaurant representatives stationed along the streaking route on Halloween night planned to distribute them.
Only three runners took part, however,and they had already heeded the police and wore skimpy bottoms.
But while the runners were not exposed,the restaurant had plenty of exposure.The Wall Street Journal mentioned Hapa Sushi in a front-page article about the Naked Pumpkin Run hubbub.
The restaurant also was named on websites including The Huffington Post , not to mention local television and print coverage.
"We salute Hapa owner Mark Van Grack,who clearly knows when to serve things raw - and when to take cover,'' Mr Calhoun, the newspaper editor, wrote in a blog post on Westword.com.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
RBS, Lloyds in major shake-up
Britains two largest retail lenders have agreed to a massive shakeup of the UK banking sector that will see both sell hundreds of branches and key businesses to appease EU competition concerns over state aid.
Partly nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group ended months of uncertainty yesterday,with Lloyds announcing it would drop out of a government-backed insurance scheme for bad debts by raising ฃ13.5 billion ($22.08 billion) in the worlds largest ever rights issue, as part of a ฃ21 billion capital raising plan.
The move leaves RBS, 70% stateowned, as the only bank joining the governments Asset Protection Scheme (APS) but RBS said it had secured more flexible terms than envisaged earlier this year that will allow it to exit the scheme within four years.
Both banks, however, were also hit by disposal orders to meet EU state aid rules, with RBS forced to sell chunks of its retail bank, RBS Insurance and to shrink its investment banking arm.
We do feel bruised by what weve had to go through, RBS chief executive Stephen Hester told reporters on a conference call.
We feel that the job (of turning around RBS) has been made more difficult for us but we understand the conflicting pressures.
Our job has been made more difficult by some of the aspects of the EU settlement but nevertheless we believe it is a doable job, he added.
The UK government said the disposals deal announced yesterday would increase competition in retail banking,bringing at least three new banks onto Britains high streets in the next four years.
The Exchequer said Lloyds and RBS would between them have to sell off businesses equating to 10% of the UK retail banking market. Only new entrants or small players in the UK market will be allowed to buy the assets, raising the key question of which buyers will step up.
Lloyds said it would sell 600 of its retail branches, with disposals including Lloyds TSB Scotland and the Cheltenham & Gloucester mortgage business branches, as well as its Intelligent Finance and the TSB brand.
RBS facing tougher EU sanctions including punitive sales imposed as late as this week will be forced to sell NatWest branches in Scotland, RBSbranded branches in England and Wales,along with RBS Insurance, Global Merchant Services and RBS Sempra Commodities.
Both banks will have up to five years to make the sales.
To avoid the APS, Lloyds said it would raise ฃ21 billion ($34.3 billion) via a ฃ13.5 billion rights issue and by swapping ฃ7.5 billion in existing debt into contingent capital, which will support the banks capital requirements.
The move will allow Lloyds to avoid the fees associated with the scheme and will cap the governments stake at 43% while also helping the bank get a better deal with Brussels.
RBS said its participation in the insurance scheme would be under better terms, confirming an expected payas-you-go arrangement that will allow it to pay annually, rather than via a single upfront fee of ฃ6.5 billion, making it easier for the bank to exit it altogether within four years.
It will now pay ฃ700 million a year for the first three years of membership and ฃ500 million a year thereafter. Under the deal, the extent of any losses borne by the bank rather than the government will rise to ฃ60 billion from ฃ42 billion previously, making it unlikely the bank will dip into the APS fund.
In return for sidestepping or limiting the impact of the APS the banks also agreed not to pay discretionary cash bonuses in relation to 2009 performance to any staff earning above ฃ39,000 while executive members of both boards agreed to defer all bonuses payments due for 2009 until 2012.
Partly nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group ended months of uncertainty yesterday,with Lloyds announcing it would drop out of a government-backed insurance scheme for bad debts by raising ฃ13.5 billion ($22.08 billion) in the worlds largest ever rights issue, as part of a ฃ21 billion capital raising plan.
The move leaves RBS, 70% stateowned, as the only bank joining the governments Asset Protection Scheme (APS) but RBS said it had secured more flexible terms than envisaged earlier this year that will allow it to exit the scheme within four years.
Both banks, however, were also hit by disposal orders to meet EU state aid rules, with RBS forced to sell chunks of its retail bank, RBS Insurance and to shrink its investment banking arm.
We do feel bruised by what weve had to go through, RBS chief executive Stephen Hester told reporters on a conference call.
We feel that the job (of turning around RBS) has been made more difficult for us but we understand the conflicting pressures.
Our job has been made more difficult by some of the aspects of the EU settlement but nevertheless we believe it is a doable job, he added.
The UK government said the disposals deal announced yesterday would increase competition in retail banking,bringing at least three new banks onto Britains high streets in the next four years.
The Exchequer said Lloyds and RBS would between them have to sell off businesses equating to 10% of the UK retail banking market. Only new entrants or small players in the UK market will be allowed to buy the assets, raising the key question of which buyers will step up.
Lloyds said it would sell 600 of its retail branches, with disposals including Lloyds TSB Scotland and the Cheltenham & Gloucester mortgage business branches, as well as its Intelligent Finance and the TSB brand.
RBS facing tougher EU sanctions including punitive sales imposed as late as this week will be forced to sell NatWest branches in Scotland, RBSbranded branches in England and Wales,along with RBS Insurance, Global Merchant Services and RBS Sempra Commodities.
Both banks will have up to five years to make the sales.
To avoid the APS, Lloyds said it would raise ฃ21 billion ($34.3 billion) via a ฃ13.5 billion rights issue and by swapping ฃ7.5 billion in existing debt into contingent capital, which will support the banks capital requirements.
The move will allow Lloyds to avoid the fees associated with the scheme and will cap the governments stake at 43% while also helping the bank get a better deal with Brussels.
RBS said its participation in the insurance scheme would be under better terms, confirming an expected payas-you-go arrangement that will allow it to pay annually, rather than via a single upfront fee of ฃ6.5 billion, making it easier for the bank to exit it altogether within four years.
It will now pay ฃ700 million a year for the first three years of membership and ฃ500 million a year thereafter. Under the deal, the extent of any losses borne by the bank rather than the government will rise to ฃ60 billion from ฃ42 billion previously, making it unlikely the bank will dip into the APS fund.
In return for sidestepping or limiting the impact of the APS the banks also agreed not to pay discretionary cash bonuses in relation to 2009 performance to any staff earning above ฃ39,000 while executive members of both boards agreed to defer all bonuses payments due for 2009 until 2012.
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