The move forms part of its preparations for the new regional business environment once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) comes into effect in a little over two years’ time, group chief executive Yuthachai Charanachitta told a news conference yesterday.
The group began studying the restructuring of its business three years ago, when there was talk that it would focus on its contracting arm, Italian-Thai Development. It has decided to have three separate units, each focusing on a different area of business.
“We decided to restructure and rebrand our group because we want to speed up our business growth and prepare for competition in Asean when the AEC single market becomes effective in 2015,” he said.
The first of the three business units comprises two companies, Ital-Thai Engineering and Ital-Thai Industry, which will cover the engineering, machinery and industrial services managed by the group. This part of the business accounts for 50 per cent of the group’s annual revenue of Bt10 billion.
The second is hospitality business and real estate, managed by Onyx Hospitality Group and Amari Asset, which together account for about 40 per cent of group revenue.
The remaining 10 per cent of group income is accounted for by the third business area, food and retail. This covers mineral water, wine and TWG Tea Saloon & Boutique businesses.
“Our rebranding concept is ‘Racing to New Heights’,” Yuthachai said.
After the restructuring and rebranding, the group targets average growth of 20 per cent a year, resulting in projected annual income of Bt15 billion by 2015, he said.
Ital-Thai Group has 5,000 staff in Thailand, China including Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, Qatar and Laos. Most of its overseas income comes from its hospitality business, Onyx Hospitality Group.
