briefs
Crocs opens two flagship outlets
Crocs, a global specialist in casual footwear for men, women and children, has unveiled two flagship stores at The Mall Bangkae and Sena Fest Lifestyle Mall on Charoen Nakhon Road.
The Future Park Rangsit operation is also being upgraded to a flagship store to serve increasing consumer demand.
The flagship stores will complement the more than 100 branches around the country.
The stores will stock a full range of Crocs’ shoe collections, including the recently launched boat-shoes collection.
New Ford dealer
Ford Thailand recently celebrated the grand opening of its Kalapapruek Road dealership in Bangkok as part of an aggressive plan to grow its dealer network this year.
The full-service dealership and showroom have been designed and developed along Ford’s latest global showroom design standards.
The layout and interface help deliver a new look and feel aimed at being both comforting and customer-friendly. Ford Kalapapruek’s outdoor garden display also provides a green area that can accommodate customers.
Hungary plant
Thai President Foods, the maker of Mama instant noodles, is planning to set up a food-processing plant in Hungary this quarter.
Thai President Foods (Hungary) will be capitalised at Bt305.5 million. It will be owned 65 per cent by the Thai company, 25 per cent by other companies of Saha Group and 10 per cent by others.
Australia deal
Italian-Thai Development in March signed a Bt2.53-billion contract with Australia-based Roy Hill Infrastructure.
Under the 507-day contract, it will deal with the design, manufacture and delivery of concrete sleepers and associated fastenings for the 42-tonne stockyard of Roy Hill’s iron-ore project in Australia.
Loxley Wireless to list
Loxley plans to list its wholly owned subsidiary Loxley Wireless on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
The company’s board recently approved the conversion of the subsidiary from a limited company to a public company. Loxley Wireless’ par value will also be split from Bt100 to Bt1 and its registered capital will be increased from Bt275 million to Bt368 million.
Up to 93 million shares will be offered to general investors, with 18.6 million or 20 per cent earmarked for Loxley’s shareholders. Loxley Wireless has filed the listing application to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sansiri condo app
Sansiri has joined with Plus Property to launch the “Sansiri Home Service” application to help buyers of Sansiri condominiums to communicate directly and instantly with the condo administrator.
The app was officially launched yesterday for customers of 11 condominium projects, totalling 3,743 units, free of charge.
The app was designed and developed by local software company Fire One One, which also developed the “Sales Kit” app for Sansiri four years ago.
Sansiri customers can reach six functions with the new app: personal message, delivery, finance, home care, phone directory, and suggestion box. In the next phase, it will offer privilege services for Sansiri customers.
Uthai Uthaisangsuk, senior vice president for business and condominium project development at Sansiri, said this application was an investment of Sansiri and Plus Property, which operates Sansiri’s condominiums.
PM off to ‘The Future of Asia’
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is flying to Tokyo today on a “working visit” to join “The Future of Asia” international conference at the invitation of Nikkei Corp.
Yingluck will be granted an audience with Crown Prince Naruhito and will hold discussions with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
She will deliver a speech on “Investing in the Future of Asia” at the conference to demonstrate her vision on the direction of Asia, which is becoming a region with strong and sustainable growth.
SPV for Dawei zone
The Cabinet yesterday approved Thailand’s joining in a 50:50 special purpose vehicle with Myanmar to develop the Dawei Special Economic Zone.
The Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency, a public organisation, would take a 50-per-cent stake in Dawei SEZ Development Co by investing not more than Bt100 million.
Dusit on a roll
Leading Asian hospitality group Dusit International continues to promote its “Year of Expansion” by exhibiting at IMEX in Frankfurt, Germany – a worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events from May 21-23.
The Dusit International delegation is led by Anita Skibiel, the new regional director of sales and marketing for the UK and Europe.
MAI firms thrive
The net profit of Market for Alternative Investment-listed firms soared 54.34 per cent year on year to Bt1.98 billion in the first quarter, thanks to their ability to control costs.
Of the 86 listed firms, 69 showed a net profit in the quarter. Most of them are not affected by the baht’s rise and have already adjusted operations to cope with the hike in the nationwide minimum daily wage to Bt300.
Subsidy via phones
The Energy Ministry is considering deploying a mobile phone-based method to facilitate households entitled to a planned government subsidy for purchases of cooking gas.
Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal said yesterday that one idea is for these people to be allowed to show a special code on their mobile phone screen to verify their right to buy cooking gas at a special price. There are 7.6 million households entitled to enjoy the subsidy of LPG for households.
The ministry has extended the plan to raise the price of LPG for households to July from June, pending the completion of a plan to help low income people who will be affected by the hike.
