WHA Group announces “WE SHAPE THE FUTURE” campaign with aim to create a sustainable future by leveraging strategic deployment of 4 business hubs Confident of achieving 2023 growth target

WHA Group announces “WHA: WE SHAPE THE FUTURE” campaign aimed at creating a sustainable future for Thailand by leveraging the capacity of its 4 business hubs - Logistics, Industrial Development, Utilities and Power, and Digital Solutions, all of which delivered a strong performance in the first half of 2023. The company also unveiled strategic plan deployed for all business hubs to move forward and achieve 2023 targets, along with continuing the Mission to the Sun to become a technology company as planned in 2024, with proven success from material progress of 3 pilot projects - Green Logistics, Digital Health Tech and Circular Economy.

Miss Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Group CEO of WHA Corporation PCL (WHA Group) revealed that “WHA: WE SHAPE THE FUTURE campaign” is conceived to reflect WHA Group's commitment to being a creator of the country prosperity, career and income opportunity for people as well as a better quality of life and society, all the way to the ultimate goal - a sustainable growth for the Thai economy. We can achieve this by leveraging the robust, fully integrated ecosystem built on the 4 business hubs of WHA Group to develop innovative business and industrial solutions that create business opportunities for investors and industries, while enhancing Thailand's competitive edge to emerge as The World's Best Investment Destination for international investors from around the world. Attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), we believe, plays a pivotal role in driving Thailand forward with economic efficiency and sustainability.”

The concept of WHA: WE SHAPE THE FUTURE builds on WHA Group's long-standing approach on sustainable development implemented since its inception, align with the Group's business direction to become “The Ultimate Solution for Sustainable Growth”. The framework to achieve this aspiration is built on the foundation of good corporate governance, human capital as strategic enabler and key driving forces including digital transformation and natural resources conservation, to create a long-term sustainable value and growth for the company as well as all stakeholders.

Meanwhile, WHA Group continued to advance its "Mission to The Sun" , consisting of 9 projects, to create new products and services and to strengthen the development of the organization and its workforce as it is turning to a technology company in 2024. Currently, three core projects with material progress include Green Logistics, Digital Health Tech and Circular Economy.

• Green Logistics - promotes the use of green technology in logistics business to enhance the efficiency of energy consumption and lower Thailand's overall logistics costs in the long term, with implementation of EV fleet for transportation, EV charging station using renewable energy, digital control tower solution to manage EV operation, etc.
• Digital Health Tech - improves access to healthcare services and solutions with the development of WHAbit, a digital healthcare application offering a wide range of health services via partnerships including Samitivej Hospital. Users can enjoy holistic health management with ease accessibility to their health records anytime anywhere, online consultations via video call with a medical professional for diagnosis, etc.
• Circular Economy - collects ideas from each business hub that promote the use of resources for optimal benefit with the Group's ecosystem, enhance working efficiency and productivity in the work process, as well as translate into a viable business opportunity for the company, such as turning industrial waste from one factory into raw materials for another or supplying industrial waste to waste-to-energy power plant.

In the first half of 2023, WHA Group posted an outstanding performance with a total revenue and share of profit of THB 5,600 million, an increase of 27%, and a net profit of THB 1,390 million, an increase of 46% compared to the same period last year. The growth reflected a strong performance across all four business hubs, particularly the Industrial Development business which reported better-than-expected results, leading the company to increase 2023 year-end targets from those set earlier this year.

Logistics Business - continues to pursue its expansion in Thailand while seeking new opportunities in Vietnam, with focus on high-growth industries like EV, e-Commerce and new S-curve businesses, long-term partnerships and implementation of digital innovations and sustainable practices across all operations, including Green Logistics and Green Certified Building. WHA Logistics sets 2023 year-end target for new projects and contracts to reach 200,000 sq.m. and total assets under ownership and management to reach 2,900,000 sq.m.

Office Solutions Business - continues to expand office building projects in prime locations of Bangkok, currently accounting for 5 projects with a total area of over 120,000 sq.m. The business unit is also venturing into new types of commercial property like a 3,000-sq.m. lifestyle retail space near BTS Surasak Station on Sathorn Road set to be launched in early 2024, and a 6,900-sq.m. medical center for specialized hospital on Sathorn Road now under construction.

Industrial Development Business - extends leadership in Thailand and broaden national presence in Vietnam, while enlarging its product offering with advanced Smart-Eco Industrial Estates and high-value industrial projects. WHA Industrial Development currently has 13 industrial estates under operation in Thailand and Vietnam, with a total area of 71,300 rai. At the moment, there is one upcoming industrial estate and 3 expansion projects in Thailand, totaling an area of 5,700 rai. In Vietnam, the company is currently accelerating the construction of WHA Industrial Zone Nghe An Phase 2, covering an area of 2,215 rai, to meet the rising demand for industrial land, and seeking investment licenses for two additional industrial estate projects. Benefiting from ongoing relocation of investment capital, the company raises 2023 year-end land sale target in Thailand and Vietnam to 2,750 rai, from 1,750 rai as announced earlier this year.

Utilities & Power Businesses - Utility Business - continues to grow along with the Group's industrial estates. A new water treatment plant and wastewater treatment facility is under construction in WHA Industrial Estate Rayong (WHA IER), with a total water distribution capacity of 3 million cubic meters and wastewater treatment capacity of 1.9 million cubic meters per year, expected to start commercial operation in the 4th quarter of 2023. The business hub also continues to expand products and solutions focusing on value-added water products, as well as seeks to capture opportunities outside WHA's industrial estates. The company recently secured two contracts to supply premium clarified water to major customers in WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 4 (WHA ESIE 4) with a combined contracted volume of 4.6 million cubic meters per year. 2023 year-end target for supplying industrial water, value-added water as well as wastewater treatment volume is set at total of 168 million cubic meters. Power Business - aims to enlarge its portfolio in Thailand, expand in Vietnam and explore new markets overseas, and continue to implement innovative and sustainable practices while seeking new opportunities in new S-Curve businesses such as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), Green Hydrogen, Carbon Trading and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS). By end of 2023, the company expects to sign several new Private Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) projects for solar rooftop with a total cumulative power generation capacity of 192 MW and targeted cumulative renewable energy capacity of 300 MW, leading to total of 847 equity MW of total secured PPA.

Digital Business - continues to lead digital transformation initiatives within WHA Group, empowering business operations of all business units to achieve a strong growth, as well as seeking new partners in the technology sector. In addition, WHA Digital collaborates with other 3 business hubs of WHA Group to create new value-added products and services driven by technologies, such as solar monitoring dashboard and performance detection devices, analytic tools, automation, and smart devices for water distribution system, and continuous improvement of digital health tech solution WHAbit, with the second version released in 2023 featuring data visualization and personal health data analysis.

“With the overall economic trend anticipating positive direction in the second half of the year, we are confident that we will be able to achieve our 2023 year-end business targets. Meanwhile we will continue to strengthen our capacity across key business dimensions to become a technology company in 2024 as well as move forward with WHA: WE SHAPE THE FUTURE campaign to be a part of creating a stable and sustainable future for people, the society and Thailand, in line with WHA Group's business direction to become “The Ultimate Solution for Sustainable Growth”, concluded Jareeporn.