Thailand's True forecasts profitability less than 2 years after merger

BANGKOK -- True Corporation, Thailand's largest telecommunications provider, reported an annual loss of 15.7 billion baht ($435 million) on Friday but said it would return to profit in 2024, less than two years after merging with its former competitor, Telenor's Total Access Communication (DTAC).

Revenue for the year ended December came in at 202.8 billion baht, a 5.7% drop from the previous year, but the company said cost savings and additional revenue from the merger created gross synergies of 12.9 billion baht, higher than the initial guidance of 10 billion baht. Synergy benefits included Telenor's global procurement, which yielded higher discounts from vendors.