MUMBAI: Shin Satellite Public Company Limited today announced continued growth for the first half of 2002, posting 25 per cent growth in net profit over the first half of 2001, or 804 million Baht, up from 642 million Baht in the same period last year. Consolidated revenue increased to 180 million Baht.

Satellite service revenue dropped 61 million Baht due to the 1.5 Baht per dollar decline in the value of the US dollar. However, this is offset by the exchange gain of more than 140 million Baht on the dollar denominated debt the company owes, a company release says.

Dr Dumrong Kasemset, executive chairman of Shin Satellite, noted: "The effect of up to 90 per cent of the company's revenue and much of its liabilities and debt being in that currency provided the company with a natural hedge against fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate and helped to maintain very stable revenue growth year-on-year.

"Furthermore, we maintained a steady rise in the utilization of our existing satellites, with C-band utilization moving up to 96 per cent and Ku-band utilization 53 per cent," he said. "This utilization is being enhanced by use of Ku-band by our iPSTAR customers, and we expect this to continue to strengthen over the year."