Briefs

Retail property developer Central Pattana (CPN) will hold roadshows in Europe and the Middle East this month to promote its new capital-increase shares.
CPN will offer 130.4 million new shares through a private placement.
Naparat Sriwanvit, senior vice president for finance, said yesterday the company will use the roadshows to update investors on its capital-increase plans and investment opportunities, as well as its plan to launch a new property fund for overseas institutional investors.
The company’s board of directors is still interested in submitting proposals to the Crown Property Bureau (CPB) for a 30-year lease to develop a 40-rai plot that formerly housed the Suan Lum Night Bazaar on Rama IV Rd. The board is expected to finalise the plan soon.
CPN was awarded a 30-year concession to utilise the plot in 2007, but the CPB is unable to transfer the rights until a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with CPN expires.

Ad spending drops
Estimated advertising expenditure in the first two months saw a 0.12-per-cent drop to Bt16.25 billion from Bt16.27 billion in the same period last year, according to the latest Nielsen (Thailand) media survey. Advertising spending via key media such as radio, newspapers, magazines, cinema, outdoor and in-store faced a decline, while those via TV, transit and the Internet continued to see positive growth.
Ichaya Santitrakul, founding partner at Brand Connections media agency, expected that advertising spending would bounce back in March and April, as many brands, particularly in the food-and-beverage, air-conditioner and travel businesses, would spend heavily on ads throughout the hot season.

Bright forecast
HSBC Global Research has projected that Thai banks will see the strongest return on equity growth in Asia over the next two years, with Kasikornbank (KBank) set to see the widest expansion, owing to its strong 15- to 16-per-cent per annum fee income growth. Transactional, bancassurance and cash management/trade finance fees should continue to be the key drivers of its already solid non-interest income platform (35 per cent of total income), HSBC Global Research said.
Moving into higher-margin businesses in a bid to improve net interest margins, KBank is on track to increase its market share in higher-yielding areas, such as smaller SMEs, while gradually building strength in the auto hire purchase and personal-loan segments, HSBC said.

Deves to compensate 95% of flood victims
Deves Insurance aims to pay compensation of no less than 95 per cent of total insured damage to flood-affected customers by the end of this year.
President Chatchai Chinvetkitvanit said yesterday that year to date, the company had paid claims from 858 housing customers out of the total of 864 and 319 industrial all-risk customers out of 439. Compensating these customers needed more time because their policies covered business interruption.

Universal in CNG deal with PTT
Universal Adsorbents and Chemicals yesterday signed a deal with PTT to sell compressed natural gas (CNG) from its petroleum production project in Sukhothai for at least three years.
CEO Kitti Jivacate said yesterday that the refinery can produce 20,000 tonnes per year, of which 65 per cent is CNG, 30 per cent liquefied petroleum gas and 5 per cent natural gas liquids. It is expected to start commercial distribution in May and realise revenue of Bt120 million-Bt150 million this year, rising to full realisation of Bt300 million-Bt350 million next year.
UAC targets revenue growth of 20-30 per cent this year.
The company has also expanded into the alternative energy and utility businesses. If all expansion plans are achieved in three years, the company expects to see average growth of 30 per cent per year, which will boost its revenue to Bt3 billion in 2015.
UAC is a supplier of chemicals, base oils and equipment to serve higher demand in refineries and in petrochemicals, oil and gas, polymers, plastics, chemicals and power plants.