Briefs

Krung Thai Bank (KTB), Saha Farms Group’s lender, expects to finalise the company’s debt restructuring within the next two months, senior executive vice president Parinya Patanaphakdee said yesterday.
 “This customer has been a good borrower for the bank throughout 20 years, and the current problem at Saha Farms is not as serious as during the bird flu six years ago. We are in the process of debt restructuring with Saha Farms, which is expected to take one to two months. The customer is expected to resume as a performing customer within one year,” he said.
 
Strong response for NBC issue
Nation Broadcasting Corporation has received overwhelming reception for its Bt1.06 billion fund-raising efforts for the digital TV licence, said NBC president Adisak Limprungpatanakij.
 More than 9 per cent of shareholders exercised their right to subscribe to the newly issued shares, he said, and added that the company will invest in new equipment and a downtown studio to prepare for the digital TV operations.
 The company issued 353.74 million shares with a par value of Bt1 per share to existing shareholders in the ratio of two new shares for one existing share, at the offer price of Bt3 each. It also issued 176.87 million warrants to existing shareholders who subscribed to the rights issue at the ratio of 2 new shares to 1 warrant, at the offer price of Bt0 per unit and the exercise price of Bt3 per share at par value of Bt1 per share.

PTT up to 81st in ‘Fortune 500’
PTT, the only Thai company to feature in the “2013 Fortune Global 500”, has seen its ranking rise to 81st place from 95th last year.
 The listed company’s 2012 consolidated revenue expanded 12.9 per cent from the previous year to US$89.94 billion (Bt2.82 trillion), while net profit fell 2.5 per cent to $3.37 billion.
 Topping the Fortune Global list is Royal Dutch Shell, despite a decline in both revenue and profit.

GMM Z in pay-TV tie-up with AIS
GMM Z, the satellite-based pay-TV operator of GMM Grammy, has joined forces with the telecom giant Advanced Info Service (AIS) to introduce pay-TV service on mobiles in a partnership expected to attract 100,000 subscribers in the first year.