Bangkok Land Public Company Limited held the 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders online, led by Mr. Peter (Sui Hung) Kanjanapas, Chairman of the Board of Directors. The annual report showed a gradual growth of operational performance after the world economy has mostly opened up. The appropriation of net profits as a legal reserve for the year ended 31 March 2023, amounting to THB 77,098,968 and the suspension of dividend payment for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2023 were proposed at the meeting. This year was another challenging year for the company due to the uncertainty of domestic and international economies, political conflicts, instability of various international financial institutions, and an ongoing war, which affected local and international businesses. It is, however, a relief that the World Health Organization has announced that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency.
Mr. Peter (Sui Hung) Kanjanapas, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bangkok Land Public Company Limited, said, "Since the world economy mostly opened up, IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center has quickly regained bookings of major exhibitions, meetings, and entertainment events. For the FY2022/2023, IMPACT had a total booking of 580 events. And as of today, which is only a few months into the upcoming financial year, IMPACT has already been booked for 467 events and is still receiving more bookings. We are hopeful that within the not-very-distant future, IMPACT will regain performance similar to that of the pre-COVID-19 era. We are also pleased that the company has acquired 152,000 ordinary shares (50.8336%) of Expolink Global Network Limited (Expolink), a leading professional trade fair organizer in Thailand, focusing on organizing international trade fairs and events. The remaining shares of Expolink are owned by Koelmesse GmbH, a world-renowned event organizer that owns some of the world's largest and best exhibition venues. Therefore, we are confident that this deal will further strengthen the position of IMPACT as the leading exhibition and convention venue in Thailand," Peter said.
Reports on the progress and achievement of the company's past projects:
- Mori Condominium: It is a great pleasure that home buyers and investors alike have well-received Mori Condominium. This is one of our residential projects, with the starting price of 849,000 baht for a one-bedroom unit, fully furnished in the trendy Japandi minimal style, and complete with facilities. As of today, the company has sold more than 70% of the units and is preparing to transfer the sold units to the customers in the coming months.
- Double Lake Condominium: With the anticipation of the completion of the MRT Pink Line extension into Muang Thong Thani, Double Lake Condominium, another residential project of ours, will be only 600 meters from the nearest station, "Lakeside Muang Thong Thani". The company is launching a special promotion to close the project by offering a special price of 1.99 million baht* for a 34 sq.m., one-bedroom unit. We believe that this competitive price should attract prospective buyers amid intense competition.
- Retail Business: During the COVID-19 situation over the past few years, the company implemented various rental reduction strategies to help out our mall's tenants both at "Beehive Lifestyle Mall" and "Cosmo Bazaar". This has helped them to maintain their business during the most difficult times and enabled us to keep our valuable tenants. Now that the situation is back to normal, the company stopped these strategies as consumer spending almost returned to pre-COVID levels. It is also delightful to see new shops opening up as well.
- Office Rental Business: Our office space rentals like "Cosmo Office Park" and "Bangkok Land Building" still do well with steady business. Since the opening up of the country, we have been receiving a growing number of inquiries from customers.
- Lenotre Culinary Arts School: The company has successfully opened Lenotre Culinary Arts School. Currently, most of the students are local, but we are actively recruiting more international students. We believe that when it is fully established, it will be an exciting addition to Muang Thong Thani and create more jobs and residential demands.
- Hotel Business: At the peak of COVID-19, Novotel IMPACT Bangkok and IBIS IMPACT Bangkok reached the lowest occupancy rate of about 36%. However, since the opening up of the country with IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center hosting numerous mega events such as Thaifex Anuga 2022, Motor Show 2022, Motor Expo 2022, Architect 2022, and OTOP 2022, to name a few, the occupancy has quickly increased almost to the pre-pandemic levels.
- MRT Pink Line Extension into Muang Thong Thani: The two pink line stations into Muang Thong Thani are "IMPACT Challenger" and "Lakeside Muang Thong Thani". The current progress of the construction is about 22% completed, which is still on track to open in mid-2025. This will add tremendous development opportunities and elevate the property prices in Muang Thong Thani.
"Under uncertain economic and political circumstances, we expect the year ahead to be a difficult year for the Thai economy. However, with the debt-free status and stable cash flow, together with the continued strength of the business of Bangkok Land, the business will grow even more, and the company will continue to strive to develop more projects. Finally, we would like to express our sincere thanks for all the continued support and confidence extended to the company. We look forward to reporting further developments and improvements for years," Peter concluded.