3K Maker Expects 10% Sales Growth

According to the Bangkok Post, Thai Storage Battery Plc, the maker of 3K automotive batteries, expects its revenue to grow by 10% to 4.1 billion baht this year. The company also anticipates net profit on par with last year’s figure of 150 million baht reported, said managing director Veerawat Korphaibool.

The company said the increasing cost of lead, the major raw material for batteries, had adversely affected its performance since 2006.

‘’It was mainly our active [marketing] strategy that helped us maintain a market share of 35% in domestic sales, and our expansion to overseas markets’’ that helped performance, said Veerawat. As well, he said, effective cost management had reduced total operating costs by 10% in Q2, while its defect rate had been halved.

TSB is producing 335,000 batteries a month, close to its production capacity of 350,000.