Thai Shin Corp swings to Q1 net profit

BANGKOK, May 14 (Reuters) - Shin Corp SHIN.BK, Thailand's largest telecoms group, said on Wednesday it swung to net profit for the first quarter mainly due to higher earnings from mobile phone and satelite subsidiaries.

Shin Corp, controlled by Singapore's Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] through two Thai-registered companies, reported a 1.8 billion baht ($55.4 million) net profit for the January-March quarter, versus a net loss of 1.72 billion baht last year.

The result exceeded the net profit of 730 million baht in the fourth quarter of 2007 and a forecast of 1.74 billion baht by broker Kim Eng Securities.

Shin Corp, valued at $2.5 billion on the Thai bourse, comprises more than 20 companies in the wireless, satellite, Internet and media sectors with Advanced Info Service (ADVA.BK) contributing more than 80 percent of profits.

AIS, 43-percent owned by Shin Corp, operates Thailand's largest mobile phone network with about 50 percent market share. It reported a better-than-expected 29 percent rise in the first quarter's earnings as both revenues and subscriber number grew.

Shin Corp's 41.3 percent owned Thaicom THCOM.BK, Thailand's only satellite operator, posted first-quarter net profit doubling from a year earlier on a foreign exchange gain and higher sales and services revenue.

Before the earnings announcement on Wednesday, Shin Corp shares rose 4.42 percent to 26 baht while the overall Thai stock market .SETI was up 1.15 percent. ($1= 32.47 Baht) (Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Rory Channing)