Cho Thavee upbeat on revenue
MAI-listed bus and truck assembler Cho Thavee Plc feels positive about its revenue prospects this year after the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) recently announced the company’s winning bid to supply an e-ticketing system worth 1.78 billion baht on 2,600 public buses.
Under the BMTA’s terms of reference, Cho Thavee will install the e-ticketing system in 2,600 buses within a year after the contract is signed.
The e-ticketing system was developed by a collaboration with Khon Kaen University.
Suradech Ta wee sa en gs akul thai, the company’s president and chief executive, said prospects will be even more promising if it wins the bids for 489 natural gas vehicle (NGV) buses for the BMTA.
The city bus agency plans to hold new bidding for the NGV buses in June or July, with a handover expected to take place in October. The new buses are part of the debt-ridden BMTA’s rehabilitation plan to generate higher revenues and improve profit margins.
The new buses were supposed to enter service early this year. The delay was because of a scandal involving import procedures that forced the BMTA to scrap the contract and call for new bidding.
The authority plans to procure 3,450 buses over the next five years and remove 2,783 old buses from the fleet.
Cho Thavee won the 2015 bid to supply 489 NGV buses worth 1.7 billion baht to the BMTA, but the BMTA later scrapped the bid when it discovered the authority’s terms of reference contradicted Thai law.
The company filed a lawsuit for damages of 1.5 billion baht, and the case is pending the BMTA’s appeal. In 2016, the company did not win any bids.
Chief financial officer Nititorn Deeumpai said the company expects revenue to grow 10% this year to 1.19 billion baht. Cho Thavee has a backlog worth 686 million baht it expects to realised as revenue mainly this year.
It reported revenue of 1.08 billion baht last year, down 7.1% year-on-year, with a net loss of 91.3 million baht compared with a profit of 35.7 million in 2015.
CHO shares closed yesterday on the MAI at 1.81 baht, up two satang, in trade worth 55.25 million baht.