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Baht/$ 35.02/05 (Bid/Ask)
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Siemens AG anticipates expects flat revenue growth from the health-care sector in Thailand, as the global economic recession and Thailand's economic and political difficulties are expected to delay new investments by prospective buyers.
Albert Ritzer, executive vice-president and head of health care of Siemens Ltd Thailand, said that public and private hospitals had put on hold new investments in new medical technologies.
"We expect frozen demand for medical technologies in Thailand over the next six months," he said. "Financial constraints will surely prompt local health-care providers to tighten their belts."
The health-care business contributes about 9% of Siemens' annual sales.
On a global basis, Siemens Healthcare reported sales of 11.17 billion in the 2008 fiscal year ending on Sept 30. Siemens AG reported group sales of 77.32 billion, an increase of 6.7% from a year ago, with net profit 50.4% to 5.72 billion.
Sales in Thailand were worth 831 million baht in fiscal 2008, a drop from 990 million in 2007, mainly due to the postponement of government megaprojects and the poor economic and political environment.
Sales were well below those in 2003 and 2004 when revenues were 16 billion and 18.3 billion baht because of subway train orders. Siemens was the only supplier to the skytrain and subway projects.
"In the 2009 fiscal year, we still expect flat sales growth," said Mr Ritzer, as the global downturn would affect Siemens whose products range from turbines to lightbulbs and hearing aids.
However, he still sees positive long-term sales prospects for Thailand, particularly for the health-care sector, given the growing number of foreign patients.
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