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Thaire Life's IPO oversubscribed 2.5 times
Thaire Life Assurance, a subsidiary of Thai Reinsurance (Thai Re), has set a price of Bt9.50 per share for its initial public offering of 295 million shares, said Pichet Sithi-Amnuai, president of Bualuang Securities, financial adviser to Thaire Life.
Around 118 million of the IPO shares will be offered to existing shareholders, 145 million to institutional investors and 32 million to retail investors.
The IPO was oversubscribed 2.5 times by institutional investors after subscriptions opened on Thursday. Subscriptions for retail investors will be open next Thursday and Friday and on September 30. Thaire Life will be listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on October 9.
Thai Re CEO Surachai Sirivallop said the company expected to raise Bt2.8 billion from the subsidiary’s IPO, while Thai Re’s shareholding will be diluted to 51 per cent from 100 per cent.
Stable car sales expected
Toyota Motor Thailand expects domestic automotive sales to stabilise for September despite a drop in the past four months, said senior vice president Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont.
He said September normally was the best-selling month in the third quarter, as the launch of new models and promotion campaigns attracted buyers.
Last month, domestic auto sales declined by 22.6 per cent from August 2012, to 100,289 units, according to data compiled by Toyota.
Pickup sales dropped 32.9 per cent year on year to 40,519 units. Passenger-car sales declined 16.4 per cent to 51,006 units. Without the promotion campaigns that have run since the beginning of this year, sales could have been battered more severely as market demand has stabilised, Vudhigorn said.
Total sales in the first eight months were 939,342 units, a year-on-year increase of 8.2 per cent. Passenger cars accounted for 450,548 units, up 17.6 per cent. But sales of commercial vehicles, including pickups, were up only 0.8 per cent, to 488,794 units.
PTTEP forms new unit
PTT Exploration and Production yesterday reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand that it had established a new subsidiary named PTTEP HK Holding to carry out business related to exploration and production.
PTTEP KH Holding has registered capital of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (about Bt40,000), consisting of 10,000 ordinary shares at HK$1 each, with 25-per-cent shareholding by PTTEP and the rest by its subsidiary PTTEP International.
SEAFCO awarded 4 deals
Deep-foundation operator SEAFCO has been awarded four contracts worth Bt259 million for bored piles and diaphragm walls and barrettes (excluding materials), its president Narong Thasnanipan said in a report to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
The four jobs consist of the Bluport Mall Hua Hin project, an underpass at Charan Sanitwong and Prannok roads in Bangkok, Galerie rue de 39 in Bangkok’s Watthana district, and a bridge at Klong Chaiyanuchit, Samut Prakan province.
Indian delegation visits
A 14-member business delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Western Region arrived in Thailand from Myanmar on Wednesday for a four-day visit to explore opportunities and possibilities for business and investment.
The delegates sought Thai counterparts through a business-to-business match-making event organised jointly by the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and the India-Thai Chamber of Commerce at the ITCC Convention Hall.
The delegation headed by Ninad Karpe, CEO and managing director of Aptech Ltd and chairman of the CII Maharashtra State Council, comprised representatives of some the biggest Indian businesses. These included Aurangabad Electricals (Bagla Group), KEC International and Roop Telsonic Ultrasonix of Mumbai, Linc Property Developer from Goa, NRB Bearings of Mumbai, Sunil HiTech India Infra of Mumbai, Hanu Reddy Realty India of Chennai, and DCM Shriram Industries of New Delhi.
HE Anil Wadhwa, ambassador of India to Thailand, addressed the gathering at a dinner reception and highlighted the goodwill of India and also expectations from Indian business groups to invest in Thailand.
Nationwide coverage by year-end for new cheque-clearing system
The Bank of Thailand’s Imaged Cheque Clearing and Archive System (ICAS) has fully covered 26 provinces in the Central region, and nationwide coverage is expected by December 19.
Some 300,000 cheques were cleared by ICAS per day, for an average value of Bt160 billion, as of September 19.
The service will be extended to cover the remaining three regions, which should take one month per region.
The system cuts the clearing period from the previous three to five working days to just one day, and reduces the chance of losses.
Agency to mediate in Saha row
The Rights and Liberties Protection Department next Wednesday will mediate in a dispute between Saha Farms and 93 farmers, who have put in claims for Bt75 million against the company.
Narat Savettanun, director-general of the department, said Saha Farms had not sent a representative to attend a negotiation yesterday in Chaiyaphum, where about 10 farmers were present.
He said that if there were no settlement, the company could face a civil lawsuit.
Nod sought for regional pacts
The Cabinet on Tuesday will be asked to approve two draft agreements showing Thailand’s commitment to regional cooperation in mitigating the impacts of climate change on agriculture and transport.
A government source said the first of the two drafts was a memorandum of understanding between the governments of the Asean member states and China on food and agriculture cooperation.
The MoU will be signed by Asean agriculture and forestry ministers at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur next Thursday.
The non-binding contract will promote research and development as well as agriculture and food-technology transfer between China and Asean.
The second involves the “Asean-German Project on Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Mitigation in the Land Transport Sector”.
Representing Thailand in the formulation of efficiency-enhancing measures, application and verification will be the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, which chairs an Asean working committee on climate change.
Sept sales to restore confidence
Domestic automotive sales should stabilise this month, after a 23-per-cent drop in August, said Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Thailand.
“Despite a fall in the past four months, September has proved to be the best-selling month in the third quarter. The launch of new models and promotional campaigns will also speed up buyers’ decisions,” he said.
Overall auto sales in August declined by 22.6 per cent from the same period last year, to 100,289 units, according to industry-wide data compiled by Toyota.
Pickup sales dropped 32.9 per cent to 40,519 units, and passenger-car sales by 16.4 per cent to 51,006 units.
Without the promotional campaigns launched since the beginning of the year, sales could have been battered more severely as demand is stabilised, Vudhigorn said.
Accumulated sales in the first eight months reached 939,342 units, still showing an increase of 8.2 per cent. Passenger cars accounted for 450,548 units, up 17.6 per cent year on year.
FTA Watch seeks assurance
FTA Watch Group, a coalition of activists from academic institutions, independent and non-governmental organisations and people’s networks, yesterday asked the Public Health Ministry for clarification of its position on the protection of Thais’ rights, after the free-trade negotiations with the European Union.
Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, FTA Watch coordinator, said the ministry should provide a clear policy statement to show the public how it would protect their rights after Thailand completes its negotiations with the EU.
The head of the negotiation team, Olarn Chaipravat, has already announced that he will negotiate based on the World Trade Organisation’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) agreement to ensure fairness for Thailand in terms of intellectual-property protection.
