briefs

UOB Asset Management predicts that the SET Index this year will hit 1,650 points. 

Sittisak Nattawut, senior director for equity investment, said that since 2008, Thai companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand had shown an increase in earnings. This year, earnings are estimated to grow by 20 per cent. 

 

 

Motor show ends 

The 34th Bangkok International Motor Show, which ended on Sunday, saw 40,843 car orders, lower than the original target of 60,000 and lower than last year’s orders of around 50,000. 

Toyota saw the most orders at 10,341 during the 12-day event, followed by Honda at 7,788, Isuzu at 3,918, Nissan at 3,232, Mitsubishi at 2,803, Mazda at 2,224, Chevrolet at 1,953, Ford at 1,880, Mercedes-Benz at 1,768, and BMW rounding out the top 10 with 1,719 units ordered. 

 

 

Myanmar telecom  

A consortium of Charoen Pokphand Group, True Corporation and Thana Telecom Corp is the only entity from Thailand among 22 that submitted pre-qualification applications to the Myanmar government to tender for two nationwide telecom licences. 

Among the other applicants are a consortium of Singapore Telecommunications, KBZ and Myanmar Telephone Company (M-Tel); Telenor; and a Vodafone-China Mobile entity. 

The names of the pre-qualified applicants will be announced on Thursday, and two of them will be selected on June 27 to be awarded the licences, according to Myanmar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. 

 

 

BTS raises Bt62.5 bn 

BTS Group Holdings has raised Bt62.5 billion for its infrastructure fund. That is the highest value of such a fund in Thai history and one of the biggest initial public offerings worldwide this year.

The company priced the 5.8 billion shares in its BTS Rail Mass Transit Growth Infrastructure Fund at Bt10.80 each, at the top end of its target range, thanks to strong investor interest. The proceeds are meant for the company’s participation in the government’s planned expansion of mass-transit systems. 

 

 

Chiang Mai boom

The planned Bangkok-Chiang Mai high-speed-rail project is driving a property boom in the northern province.

Pairat Siensaman, a provincial land officer, said the project, which will boost the province’s economic potential, was spurring new investment by several developers including Land & Houses, Quality Houses, Supalai and Sansiri. 

Land prices near the airport have shown the biggest increase, from Bt3,000 per square wah last year to Bt25,000 (Bt6,250 per square metre) now. The prices of land in the inner areas of Muang district rose by 20 per cent to Bt250,000 per square wah.

 

 

Hemaraj contracts 

Hemaraj Land and Development sold 421 rai (just over 67 hectares) of industrial land in the first quarter. Of 24 contracts, 37 per cent were Japanese and 29 per cent were for the automotive sector. Mazda Powertrain Manufacturing (Thailand) purchased 131 rai at Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (Rayong) for its Bt15-billion strategic automotive investment. 

In the quarter, rental factory space also expanded to 263,839 square metres, an increase by 28,030sqm or 12 per cent from 2012.