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New Ericsson Thailand chief upbeat on prospect
Camilla Vautier on October 1 took over the president’s spot at Ericsson Thailand, replacing Joacim Damgard, who now heads up the UK and Ireland.
She reports to Arun Bansal, Ericsson’s president for Southeast Asia and Oceania.
She was the head of commercial management in Western and Central Europe.
Camilla said she was delighted to be in Thailand at such an exciting time of mobile broadband growth. Thailand is one of the countries with the highest smartphone and tablet penetration growth in Southeast Asia.
The findings from the latest Ericsson Consumer Lab study suggest that the smartphone penetration rate here will double and tablet penetration rate will triple this year.
Almost 27 per cent of local tablet users have indicated that they are using it to watch TV or video content, while 32 per cent of smartphone users have said they are using their device for video streaming.
Filter Vision sets IPO price at Bt1.2/share
Water treatment provider Filter Vision has set the price of Bt1.2 for 59.20 million initial public offering shares and will list on the Market for Alternative Investment on October 29.
Chupong Thanasettakorn, managing director of Country Group Securities, the financial adviser and lead arranger for the IPO, said yesterday that subscriptions will be open on Thursday, Friday and next Monday.
The IPO price has been discounted by 40 per cent to investors in line with the actual stock market situation.
The advantage of Filter Vision is its annual growth of 15-20 per cent.
Proceeds from the IPO will support expansion.
The company targets revenue growth of 15-20 per cent this year from Bt260 million.
Policy rate to stay at 2.50% amid weak growth: Kresearch
The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee is expected to maintain the benchmark interest rate at its meeting tomorrow, said Kasikorn Research Centre. KResearch said the rate should stay at 2.50 per cent amid weak growth momentum. Despite a slight recovery in exports, Thailand’s economic activities remain weak.
The research house has lowered its 2013 economic growth forecast from 4 per cent to 3.7 per cent. Inflation is therefore expected to remain low for the time being.
“There are great risks to the pace of global recovery, particularly the recovery in the US ... Should fiscal woes be extended, this would affect the global economy,” it said.
Under such circumstances, it said there was room for a rate cut in Thailand to boost gross domestic product, but this should be done in a discreet manner, given the high household-debt-to-GDP ratio.
EPPO to cut diesel contribution
To cope with the fluctuating global oil market, the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) will reduce the contribution of diesel sales to the Oil Fund by 40 satang per litre, in an attempt to ensure diesel prices do not exceed Bt30 per litre at the pump.
EPPO director-general Suthep Liamsiricharoen yesterday said it had decided to reduce the contribution of diesel sales to the fund from Bt1 per litre to Bt0.60 per litre.
The price of crude oil in Dubai increased significantly to about US$108.13 per barrel as of October 11, up $1.97 compared from the time of the last EPPO committee meeting, which used the oil price reference based on October 4. Meanwhile, the price of petrol is currently $116.34 per barrel, up $1.93 per barrel, and $125.95 per barrel for diesel, up $2.12 per barrel.
Insurance premiums ‘to slow’
The gross premium income of the life-insurance industry is expected to slow next year because of Thailand’s economic slowdown and lower purchasing power, said Apirak Thaipatanagul, chief executive officer and director of Thai Life Insurance.
The company expects total premiums in 2014 to expand by only 15 per cent – 2 percentage points down from the expected growth of 17 per cent for 2013. Total premiums in 2014 are expected to reach Bt525 billion.
He said the stability of interest rates and the increased incomes of civil servants were positive factors for continuing premium growth of insurance products. Thai Life Insurance expects its total premiums next year to grow by 16 per cent from this year’s expected gross of Bt54.60 billion.
Lumpini township sales boosted
LPN Development succeeded last week in selling 2,000 housing units worth Bt1.5 billion, in the first phase of Lumpini Township Rangsit-Klong 1. The project has a total of 10,000 units worth Bt7 billion.
After strong demand for homes in the location, the company also plans to open the second phase to sell 4,000 units as soon as possible, managing director Opas Sripayak said.
