Thailand Post has set an aggressive revenue growth target of 30% over the next five years, helped by the burgeoning e-commerce market that is boosting its express delivery business.
The state enterprise project revenue reaching 28 billion baht by 2019, up from 21.6 billion in 2014, said deputy president Piyawat Mahapauraya. Net profit is expected to rise by 17% to 2.6 billion baht by 2019, up from 2.22 billion last year.
"Thailand's e-commerce market has witnessed at least 20% growth over the past few years, helping our express delivery service enjoy 15% expansion," he said. Around 400,000 parcels are delivered every day.
Thailand Post has earmarked 200 million baht over the next two years to upgrade its IT backup system in order to serve anticipated strong revenue growth and accommodate the shift to the digital economy, Mr Piyawat said.
The enterprise invested 300 million baht last year on an advanced IT system and back office to boost operational efficiency, improve service quality and cut costs.
"We expect to see 2 billion baht in net profit this year on revenue of 21.8 billion baht," he said. The revenue target is based on the 2014 fiscal year's revenue performance, the industry's outlook and the country's economic climate this year.
Information and Communication Technology Minister Pornchai Rujiprapa said Thailand Post would play an important role in supporting the e-commerce industry. It could ultimately serve the state's digital economy development policy due to its high capacity IT system and collaborative organisational structure.
"Thailand Post could become a logistics service centre for e-commerce in the country, serving the government's goal to promote Thailand as a regional logistics hub for the Asean Economic Community," said Mr Pornchai.