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Asia Plus to advise five Chinese firms eyeing Thai bourse
Asia Plus Securities has clinched deals with five Chinese companies to be their financial adviser as they plan to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, chief executive officer Kongkiat Opaswongkarn said.
He said one of them was expected to be able to list this year.
This company is in the consumer-products with annual revenue between Bt500 million and Bt1 billion.
Kongkiat said Asia Plus expected its own profit in the second quarter to continue growing in line with the trend for brokerage and investment-banking services.
The company plans to raise its net-profit forecast for this year up from the original target of 40 per cent growth from last year’s Bt603.14 million.
VN’s industrial production shows 5% YoY growth
The industrial production index of Vietnam increased 6.7 per cent year on year in May, placing total growth for the first five months at 5.2 per cent.
This represented an improvement over the first quarter, but still dragged behind last year’s growth, according to the General Statistics Office.
Still, the office’s economic specialist Vu Quang Ha said the move showed that industrial production was rallying after its recent slump.
Manufacturing and processing, which accounted for more than 70 per cent of all industrial production, expanded 5.5 per cent in the first five months.
But last year, they grew 6.3 per cent.
Some products in these areas witnessed significant growth, such as cast metals (up 15.3 per cent), leather (up 14.7 per cent), paper and paper products (up 12.7 per cent) and beverages (up 11.8 per cent).
But several major products did not grow and some even declined.
Textile fabric rose only 5.5 per cent, crude oil increased a scant 3.3 per cent and raw iron and steel were down 7 per cent.
The inventory index went up significantly for many major products, such as computers and electronics and optical goods (up 46.8 per cent), electric devices (up 26.3 per cent) and furniture (up 32.2 per cent).
According to statistics-office experts, the index was not showing signs of easing, with inventories of produced goods at 74 per cent in April and nearly 77 per cent in the first four months.
The secure level is regarded as 65 per cent. – Viet Nam News/Asia News Network
Betagro-Japanese restaurant deal
Betagro Group has signed a deal with Japan's Four Seeds Corporation on a plan to operate Japanese-restaurant franchises in Thailand.
Betagro First Collection will be set up to operate the franchises, including Miyatake Sanuki Udon and Pizza-LA Express. The first outlet will be opened this year.
Lofty prices
Owners of land plots in Bangkok's central business district are asking as much as Bt2 million per square wah (Bt500,000 per square metre), expecting continued demand thanks to proximity to mass transit and other facilities, according to a survey by Century 21 Realty Affiliates (Thailand).
The asking prices for the Sukhumvit area at Bt1.5 million per square wah are 188.46 per cent above the official evaluation of Bt520,000. Asking prices in the Thong Lor area are Bt1.2 million to Bt1.5 million.
IEAT introduces green strategy in Map Ta Phut
The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) is introducing three Green Logistics strategies in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong to boost community and environmental quality, save energy and enhance logistics competitiveness. Under the plan, the transport mode will be shifted from road to rail.
Witoon Simachokdee, chairman of IEAT, said this was part of the authority’s policy to promote sustainable co-existence with communities.
The area, covering 10,215 rai, houses heavy industries like petrochemical, chemicals, steel, refineries and power plants. It is surrounded with communities of more than 50,000 households.
On the environmental front, the IEAT has also required that all 148 industrial plants establish direct links of its warning system with the Environmental Management Command Centre. At present, 25 factories or 10 per cent have completed the task and work is scheduled for completion in 2015.
GPF’s total assets rise by 10.46%
The Government Pension Fund’s total assets in 2012 rose by 10.46 per cent to Bt577.13 billion, while returns soared by 133 per cent to Bt35.41 billion thanks to the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing policy that boosted investor confidence in high-risk instruments.
Areepong Bhoocha-oom, chairman of GPF, said returns on investment over 16 years (1997-2012) stood at 7.04 per cent against the average inflation of 3.01 per cent.
He said the office will this year focus on strategic asset allocation (SAA) by increasing investment in growth assets such as Thai and foreign stocks following an active management plan to comply with the rapid changes in the economy and the financial market.
Sopawadee Lertmanaschai, GPF secretary-general, added that the office will play a bigger role by helping educated people about retirement savings and offering investment plans in line with those for GPF members.
Jetstar ups S’pore-Bangkok flights
Jetstar Asia is adding eight additional flights per week between Singapore and Bangkok from July 8 to cater to rising demand.
The new services will see Jetstar Asia fly up to six times daily to the Bangkok, adding an addition 2,800 seats each week between the two popular gateways.
Jetstar Asia chief executive officer Barathan Pasupathi said that Bangkok, and Thailand more broadly, continued to be one of the biggest markets for Jetstar in their Southeast Asian network.
