True, Thailand's only integrated telecoms firm, expects its key mobile business, run by True Move, to break even in the fourth quarter of 2007, a Reuters report said.
The Reuters report said True Move, Thailand's third largest mobile phone provider and majority owned by True Corp, was expected to make a loss of about 900 million baht ($28 million) this year and turn to profit next year, chief executive Supachai Chearavanont told reporters.
True Move, which has lost money since it launched mobile services in March 2002, was expected to have a 25% share of the mobile market, or 15-16 million subscribers next year, up from about 22%, or 12 million, now, Supachai said.
Eleven analysts polled by Reuters Estimates forecast True Corp would post a net loss of 2.45 billion baht ($78.6 million) in 2008, down from 3.39 billion baht ($107 million) in 2007.
In the first nine months of 2007, it made a net profit of 1.12 billion baht ($36.9 million), due mainly to changes in its accounting policy, the Reuters report said.
True Move, whose service revenues account for half of True Corp's, competes with market leader AIS, and number two DTAC, the report further said.