NEWS-Thai firm buys into Burmese op

[TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Thai firm buys into Burmese operation 

                               'Myanmar Spa has great
                               potential'

                               Sukanya Jitpleecheep 

                               Two of Thailand's leading
                               advertising agencies, Future
                               Communications Group and Far
                               East Advertising, yesterday
                               announced a joint venture to
                               strengthen their positions in the
                               region and ready themselves to
                               compete with western advertising
                               agencies.

                               Under the joint venture, Far East
                               Advertising Plc will buy a two million
                               baht stake in Burma's Myanmar Spa
                               Today Advertising, a subsidiary of
                               Future Communications Group.

                               Myanmar Spa Today Advertising is
                               a leading agency in Burma and a
                               joint venture between Future
                               Communication and its Burmese
                               partner at the ratio of 60:40.

                               Under the joint venture announced
                               yesterday, Future Communication
                               will hold 34%, Far East Advertising
                               30% and the Burmese partner 36%.

                               Myanmar Spa Today Advertising,
                               with a registered capital of US$
                               83,000, was renamed Spa Today
                               Far East Co Ltd.

                               Future Communications Group,
                               which is the subsidiary of Osotspa
                               Group, comprises 20 advertising,
                               marketing research, public relations,
                               media and production companies
                               spread across Burma, Malaysia,
                               Cambodia, Hong Kong and
                               Indonesia.

                               At a joint press conference, Wasin
                               Teyateeti, managing director of Far
                               East Advertising Plc, and Kitti
                               Chambundabongse, president of
                               Future Communications, said they
                               agreed to invest in Myanmar Spa
                               Today Advertising because it has
                               become a local leading agency in a
                               short period of time.

                               The success of Myanmar Spa
                               Today Advertising has shown the
                               potential for the advertising
                               business in Burma, Mr Wasin said.

                               With forecasts of future strong
                               economic growth in Burma, the joint
                               venture would be able to expand its
                               business further, he said.

                               Future Communication president
                               Kitti said having Far East
                               Advertising as a co-partner would
                               strengthen its international
                               operations.

                               "Spa has lots of clients in the
                               Osotspa Group while Far East has
                               a strong client base from the Saha
                               Group that wants to expand
                               business overseas,' he said.

                               In the future, Spa will be able to
                               enter the new emerging market
                               areas in Indochina. At the same
                               time, the markets where Spa has
                               already established its presence will
                               become stronger through the
                               strength of both allies.

                               Wasin Teyateeti said the joint
                               venture with Future Communication
                               was based on the objective of
                               serving clients such as Siam
                               Cement and Saha Group in
                               overseas markets.

                               For its part Far East sees business
                               potential in the emerging Burmese
                               market which, it says, is more
                               challenging than established
                               markets like Hong Kong and
                               Singapore.

                               Currently, Spa Myanmar Today is
                               ranked second in the local
                               advertising industry worth about
                               US$4-5 million.

                               Last year, the company recorded
                               billings of US$1 million and is
                               forecasted the same this year. The
                               company has 12 clients, of which
                               60% billings are from Thailand, 30%
                               from regional firms and 10% from
                               local clients.

                               Mr Wasin said he found the
                               Burmese people were very
                               interested in watching TV and he
                               planned to produce TV programmes
                               for local consumption.

                               Future Communication has already
                               liquidated four subsidiaries out of 20
                               to improve the group's financial
                               status.

                               Group president and chief executive
                               Kitti Chambundabongse refused to
                               name the four closed subsidiaries,
                               however, he confirmed the number
                               of employees would be reduced
                               from 508 to 300.

                               Future Communication is involved in
                               direct marketing (Interactive
                               Communication), research
                               (Foresight Research), public
                               relation (Total Quality Public
                               Relation), advertising (Spa
                               Advertising), design (Centris Corp)
                               and advertising production
                               (Introvision Production).

                               "Last year, we lost 500 million baht
                               from our group's total annual billing
                               of three billion baht. And, we had a
                               7 million baht net loss for the first
                               time in a decade,' Mr Kitti said.

                               The group decided to dissolve four
                               non-profitable companies which
                               have no prospects for improvement
                               in the next two years.

                               "After cutting four companies, the
                               remaining 16 will have better
                               performances. We hope to maintain
                               2.5 billion baht in billing this year,'
                               he said.

                               This year the group will focus on
                               three main areas: advertising,
                               research and design.