SCG sets strategy to expand its assets in Asean to Bt100 billion
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SIAM CEMENT GROUP says its total assets in Asean could reach Bt100 billion this year, as the region plays a more important role in the company's investments and sales.
Kan Trakulhoon, president and chief executive officer of SCG, said that with the company’s strategies and vision to go regional, it would continue to invest and expand in Southeast Asia.
“The total assets of the company in Asean should exceed Bt100 billion this year, from Bt88.96 billion in 2014. Asean will play a more significant role in earning income for the firm after [regional] integration,” he said.
Currently, SCG’s assets in Asean account for 19 per cent of the total. That proportion will increase considerably in the following years, he said.
SCG says the largest portion of its Asean investment capital since 1994 has gone into Indonesia, for a total of Bt39.85 billion in the packaging, |chemicals, and cement and building-materials industries. Vietnam is second with total assets of Bt21.9 billion, followed by Laos and Cambodia with a combined Bt8.68 billion, Myanmar at Bt7.68 billion, the Philippines with Bt7.07 billion, and Malaysia and Singapore with combined assets of Bt674 million.
Looking at more investments
Kan said the firm would look at investing more in Asean, whose overall economy has been expanding at an average of 5-6 per cent a year compared with only 3-4 per cent in Thailand. The Asean market is obviously also bigger with a population of 600 million, while it is considered a familiar market. Low per-capita consumption of basic products also means it can grow continuously.
This year, sales and income from Asean operations are expected to increase strongly, with their proportion growing to 10 per cent, from 9 per cent last year.
In the first quarter of the year, the company reported that its sales from Asean operations combined with exports to the region were up by 2 per cent year on year to Bt24.12 billion.
In the quarter, the group’s sales totalled Bt109.27 billion. Of that, exports to Asean and revenue from Asean operations accounted for 22 per cent, while domestic sales accounted for 61 per cent, and exports to other destinations 17 per cent.
With a clear plan to expand in Asean, the workforce is expected to grow strongly as well, Kan added. Currently, of the total SCG manpower of about 51,100 people, 30 per cent are regional staff.
As of March, the group employed 35,663 people in Thailand, 6,935 in Indonesia, 6,496 in Vietnam, 1,080 in the Philippines, 440 in Cambodia, 184 in Myanmar, and 302 in other Asean countries.
