Despite the prolonged Covid-19 outbreak, SET-listed RS is remaining positive about business growth this year, albeit at a slow pace.
Chief financial officer Wittawat Wetchabutsakorn said the company projected its revenue to grow by 10-15% to 4-4.4 billion baht this year, down from 50% growth to 5.7 billion previously targeted.
Of the total, 2.8-3 billion baht will come from commerce, with the remainder stemming from the entertainment business, he said.
"With the prolonged and aggressive Covid-19 outbreak, consumer spending power declined continuously over the last 16 months. Our net profit also reached bottom in the second quarter, but we expect performance will gradually recover from the third quarter," Mr Wittawat said.
The company is confident its revenue for the full year will total 4-4.4 billion baht thanks to various marketing strategies, he said.
RS is scheduled to launch various new products to the market in the remaining months of this year. The products include those owned by three companies that RS recently acquired and then formed a joint venture.
The three firms are Chase Asia, which has long experience in legal execution, debt collection and seeking of debtors' assets; Specialty Holding Co, a specialist in R&D and manufacturing of herbal dietary supplements and cosmetics; and RS Plan B.
RS bought 35% and 33% shares in Chase Asia and Specialty Holding Co, respectively, and formed a joint venture with SET-listed Plan B Media, a leading out-of-home media operator, to set up RS Plan B to develop and market products for the mass market.
"The investment, especially in Specialty Holding Co, will help enhance the company's ecosystem, especially in the commerce business, strengthening upstream to downstream production capacity, enabling access to key raw materials and reducing costs in the long run," chief executive Surachai Chetchotisak said.
Mr Wittawat said RS will keep on expanding its healthcare products because the pandemic has drawn consumers' attention to health products and ageing demographics in Thailand should boost demand for food supplements.
Demand for dietary supplements and vitamins is expanding at a steady pace, with a market value of more than 25 billion baht in 2020, he said.
Thailand's herbal export industry has grown in popularity, worth some 80 billion baht last year. Thai herbal extracts have strong potential in the export market, said Mr Wittawat.
