Shin Sat stock still suffering from Thaksin coup

(Satellite News via NewsEdge) The stock of Shin Satellite has yet to recover from the drop it took in the aftermath of the military coup in Thailand.

The exchange was closed September 20, and the stock of the satellite operator fell more than 13% September 21 and another 18% September 22 in the wake of the coup, which ousted the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

While most of the Thai stock market has recovered its losses, Shin shares remain depressed because of the company's relationship with Thaksin.

In January, Thaksin's family sold its stake in Shin to a group of investors led by Singapore's state-run Temasek Holdings, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and a group of Thai investors for 73.3 billion Thai baht ($1.9 billion). The family did not pay tax on the deal, which helped spark the coup, according to reports from Bloomberg News.

The military has set up a commission to review all projects approved by Thaksin's government throughout the past five years to look for possible corruption, and the panel is authorized to seize assets gained through abuse of authority, Bloomberg said.

In the 2006 second quarter, Shin lost 34 million Thai baht ($907,000) as revenues slipped nearly 10% from the first three months of the year due to declining revenues from the iPSTAR broadband satellite business, the company announced in August.

Thaicom satellite revenues of 634 million baht ($16.9 million) were down from the first quarter but up from 600 million baht ($16 million) in the 2005 second quarter, thanks to the contribution of the recently launched Thaicom 4 satellite.

Shin Sat stock still suffering from Thaksin coup

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