SET-listed SCG, Thailand's largest cement maker and industrial conglomerate, has adjusted its 2020 revenue estimate, believing it will fall by 9% from last year, not 6% as earlier expected, because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2019, its revenue stood at 437 billion baht.
The company believes the pandemic will continue to haunt the global economy into next year, making it difficult to come up with a new business plan for 2021.
SCG president and chief executive Roongrote Rangsiyopash said on Thursday it is hard to precisely assess the impact the company is facing, making its work on the new plan a time-consuming job.
However, he expected SCG should complete its 2021 business plan within the last quarter this year.
Many countries face a renewed outbreak of coronavirus, causing governments to re-enforce lockdown measures.
With this uncertainty, "it is not easy to assess the global and domestic economy," said Mr Roongrote.
From January to September this year, SCG earned revenue worth 303 billion baht, a 9% decrease year-on-year, due mainly to decreased sales prices of chemical products as a result of a decrease in oil prices.
Profit stood at 26.1 billion baht, a 5% increase year-on-year, driven by sales of its value-added products in cement-building material and packaging businesses.
Overall businesses have remained agile and responsive. Technologies were adopted to streamline the entire supply chain.
In the third quarter this year, SCG recorded revenue of 101 billion baht, a 9% decrease year-on-year.
Profit stood at 9.74 billion baht, a 57% increase year-on-year thanks to outstanding business performance in the value-added product segment.
"When compared with the second quarter, revenue increased by 5% while profit increased by 4%," said Mr Roongrote.
SCG has spent 37 billion baht of its investment budget, with 50-60 billion allotted for the full year.
The company played down the closure of Mawlamyine Cement Ltd (MCL) plant in Myanmar, saying it will not affect the cement-building material business.
SCG is a co-investor in MCL.
"MCL has a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes, while SCG's total capacity is around 30 million tonnes per year," said Mr Roongrote. The company is finding ways to solve its operation problem, he said.
For the Long Son Petrochemicals complex in Vietnam, worth US$5.4 billion, the facility is 97% complete.
The company said its Map Ta Phut olefins plant (MOC) in Rayong was shut down for major maintenance for 45 days during April-June 2020 under a debottlenecking project, aiming to increase its capacity by around 350,000 tonnes.
The MOC facility has a total capacity of around 1.4-1.5 million tonnes per year.
The company is closely monitoring ongoing political conflicts with protesters, but they have not affected its businesses thus far.
