Plan B bucks trend with sharp growth

SET-listed Plan B Media Plc, an out-ofhome (OOH) media service provider, posted a 69% rise in first-quarter net profit to 109 million baht on revenue surging 24.3% to 692 million baht.

The strong performance occurred against a decline in ad spending on all media outlets.

Plan B’s sharp growth in revenue and profit was due to continued expansion of the media business and sports marketing, said managing director Pinijsorn Luechaikajohnpan.

In media business, the company further expanded airport media with the full launch of the digital network at Don Mueang airport, featuring 102 digital screens, 20 touchscreens and 168 mobile charging points.

Plan B also expanded the digital advertising business via Plan B TV Nationwide with 63 screens in 45 provinces.

Moreover, Plan B officially started its agency service business for managing various media and event rights of the Football Association of Thailand and Thai League Co for 2017-20.

The company enjoyed a 14.6% net profit margin in the first quarter, up from 10.8% a year earlier, despite the first of the year being a low season for media business. Plan B’s first-quarter media utilisation rate stood at 60.5%.

“OOH media has a lot of potential, and we will continue to develop new media innovations to better access audiences and attract more clients nationwide,” Mr Pinijsorn said.

Plan B will continue to expand its OOH media business through the rest of the year with a budget of 400-500 million baht. Plans call for future expansion within the Asean bloc as well.

This year, Plan B is confident of achieving 20-25% revenue growth from 2.44 billion baht last year. The company’s total media capacity is valued at 4.4 billion baht, which is ready to absorb demand when ad spending picks up.

According to Nielsen Thailand, total ad spending on all media outlets fell nearly 6% to 34.8 billion baht in the first four months of the year.

Brands and companies have shown reluctance to spend their ad budgets as they fret about the slower-than-expected economic recovery.

Ad spending on in-store and outdoor media, two OOH media categories, enjoyed 52.4% and 22.8% growth, respectively, in the first four months.

Plan B expects to book an accumulated profit of 23.3 million baht from the cancellation of its second employee stock ownership programme in the second quarter.

PLANB shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 5.75 baht, up 25 satang, in trade worth 161 million baht.