SET Announcements

BEC World Plc. (BEC) reported a summary of its audited annual financial statements as follows: (In Thousand Baht) For Year Ended December 31 1996 1995 BEC/BEC and subsidiaries Net profit 1,806,441 529,293 EPS (Baht) 9.41 11.21 BEC explained the rocketed profit earned of 1996, giving the following reasons: 1. The company began its investments in subsidiaries late in 1995, so only a minor part of the equity in subsidiaries' profit was relised in 1995 while the equity was fully realised in 1996. 2. Interest receivable in 1996 was much higher than in the previous year because the company has increased its capital in Q4/1995 and Q2/1996. 3. The company obtained more air time, and adjusted its advertising rate by about 20% at the beginning of Q4 of each year. As a result, revenues from air time sales for advertisements increased significantly over the earlier year. The company noted that it has acquired shares in subsidiaries that became operational in early in Q4/1995, so the performance in 1996 improved a lot as compared to the previous year (when the subsidiaries' performance has not yet been consolidated).