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Moody's expects another drop in production index
Thailand’s Industrial Production Index for September is due to be released on Friday. Moody’s Analytics forecasts the index to drop 2.7 per cent from the same month last year, after a fall of 3.1 per cent a month earlier.
Production remains soft as the underlying weakness in domestic demand plays out. This trend is expected to persist over the coming months. Better Chinese growth and a steady pick-up in Japan add some upside to the near-term outlook, it said.
SC Asset to issue debentures
SC Asset Corporation will issue three-year debentures worth Bt800 million with a coupon rate of 5 per cent.
In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, it said the issue dates were set for October 25-29. The debentures will be offered to institutional investors and major investors. The proceeds will be applied to debt repayment and business expansion.
The debenture was rated “BBB+” by Tris Rating. CIMB Thai Bank and Asia Plus Securities are the lead underwriters.
CP All long-term rating confirmed
CP All’s long-term rating was confirmed at “A+” by Fitch Ratings (Thailand), despite the company’s recent decision to raise the size of its secured bonds from Bt40 billion to Bt47 billion.
The bonds will be issued in eight tranches due in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2023. The bonds will be secured by the shares of Siam Makro held by CP All. The proceeds will be used to refinance some of the bridge loans from banks that CP All used to acquire Makro.
Tri Property gets new COO
Tri Property has named a reputable financial expert as chief operating officer to help manage its investment portfolio as part of its long-term target of boosting project value to Bt7 billion in five years.
CEO Adisorn Vivakanonda said yesterday that the company was launching a condominium project in the new central district of Phuket named Zcape 3 at a cost of Bt1 billion.
Although presales are set to commence this Friday at its sales office, more than 20 per cent of the available units have already been booked.
New chief operating officer Bandid Chotiwannaporn said he decided to join Tri Property because it had a good investment vision and proven track record in developing quality residential projects while offering worthy investment alternatives to clients.
Zcape 3 boasts a prime location in the international business junction that has seen land prices keep growing. While an attractive place to live in, Zcape 3 buyers can also opt to invest for future return or rent condos out for either residential or tourism purposes.
New iPhones to go on sale
Mobile operators will begin offering the iPhone 5s and 5c on Friday.
At True Move H, the iPhone 5s will be available for Bt2,390 per month for the 16GB model, Bt2,750 for the 32GB and Bt3,090 for the 64GB on 10 monthly instalments. The 5c will be available for Bt1,990 per month for the 16GB model and Bt2,390 for the 32GB model on 10-month instalments.
The iPhone 4s will still be available for Bt1,450 per month on 10 monthly instalments. TrueMove H will allow iPhone 5s and 5c customers to connect to its fast 4G LTE, HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA networks.
SET down on political concerns, index ends 2.44% lower
The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index plunged by 2.44 per cent yesterday, bucking the regional trend, as investors fret about intensifying domestic political conflicts.
The SET lost 36.18 points to 1,448.54 on turnover of Bt45 billion.
The focus is on the second and third readings of the amnesty bill early next month and the possible rally led by the Democrat Party on October 6, DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand) said.
“Political factors are risks that should not be overlooked in the following one to two months,” it said.
Ending last week at 1,484.72, the SET was widely expected to continue its northerly momentum this week. Regional bourses rose, as the US is expected to maintain its expansive monetary policy for some time. Reflecting the optimism was foreign net-buys of Bt994.8 million on Friday.
Foreign investors were undeterred by domestic issues. Their net-buys of Bt1 billion yesterday helped widen month-to-date net-buys to Bt2.78 billion.
Floods dampen sales
Floods and campaigns crimped sales last month.
Domestic vehicle sales in September dropped 28.4 per cent on year to only 94,945 units partly due to flooding, according to data compiled by Toyota Motor Thailand.
Sales of passenger cars slipped 30.7 per cent while one-tonne pickup trucks were off 29.1 per cent. Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont, vice president of Toyota, said floods in several provinces caused trouble in transportation, while buyers waited for better deals.
In the first nine months, sale rose only 3.4 per cent on year to 1.03 million units.
New models launching this month would help boost monthly sales, despite persisting flood problems.
Incentives from BoI
The Board of Investment yesterday granted promotional incentives to 39 SME projects worth Bt15 billion and three projects worth more than Bt9.26 billion.
Udom Wongviwatchaim, secretary-general of the BoI, said that for SMEs to qualify for tax breaks, their projects must show a minimum investment of Bt500,000 excluding land and working capital and Thai shareholders must hold at least 51 per cent of registered capital. The incentive project requires asset or investment size of up to .
“The investment incentive applications by SMEs from 2011-13 have combined value of more than Bt28 billion. We expect applications in 2014 will be no less than Bt15 billion,” he said.
Sentiment improves in South
The Commerce Ministry and Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre conducted a monthly survey and produced a confidence index for trade and investment in the three southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat for the fifth time last month.
The reading showed improved sentiment towards trade and investment in the deep South, from 34.4 to 37.8, and an encouraging outlook for this final quarter of the year.
This latest confidence index involved 428 businesses and five aspects – local or regional economy (southern border provinces), operating results, expansion, employment and overall situation. Each aspect was weighted the same.
Positive factors were meetings with existing or potential southern investors, income generating support, sporting activities like Thai boxing, private and state economic stimulus, confidence boosting measures like jobs creation, tax incentives, support funds for businesses, basic infrastructure development, peace talks with southern separatist groups, price and costs of production support for southern agricultural crops such as rubber.
Such activities helped boost tourism and spending in the South as well as the morale of local residents. However, the ongoing southern violence keeps the confidence index below the average “50” index figure.
As for the outlook for the next three months, southern businesses expect an improved overall trade and investment climate as indicated by the economic confidence index of 41.5 versus 41.0 in the preceding month, and the public safety, or stability confidence index of 42.4 versus 34.6 in the preceding month.
