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Kuang Pei San Food Products, the producer of Pompui-branded canned seafood, has witnessed no adverse impact from the stricter fishing rules imposed in compliance with the European Union’s move to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Sopin Theppasaskul, quality control manager at the company’s factory in Trang, yesterday said the company had stocked up on raw materials ahead of the compliance deadline, to ensure that the stocks could support production for at least six months.

She said that at present, nearly 100 per cent of Kuang Pei San Food Products’ mackerel was imported from Japan, while its clams were supplied by fishermen in Surat Thani and Chumphon, as well as by exporters in Vietnam.

The factory’s annual capacity is about 80 million cans of seafood.

“The raw materials are sufficient for production until the end of this year,” she said.

“We’re on alert, with plans to import more materials. If the prices rise, either the production cost will be lowered or we will need to raise our prices,” she added.

BBL cuts loan target as economic growth falls short

Bangkok Bank (BBL), Thailand’s largest lender by assets, has cut its 2015 loan-growth target to 2-4 per cent as the economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the first half, a senior executive said yesterday.

The slower growth has also prompted BBL to raise its loan-loss provision to Bt10 billion for this year, from an earlier estimate of Bt9 billion, said executive vice president Chaiyarit Anuchitworawong.

Non-performing loans are expected to rise to 2.6 per cent of total lending by year-end, from the previous target of 2.5 per cent, he added.

The bank had earlier targeted loan growth of 3-5 per cent, on the assumption that the Thai economy would grow 3-4 per cent this year, but economic growth is now expected to be just 3 per cent.

BBL also revised the 2015 forecast for its net interest margin to 2.1-2.2 per cent, from an earlier target 2.3-2.4 per cent, after the central bank cut the policy interest rate earlier in the year, Chaiyarit said.

Fitch affirms SCBAM’s asset manager rating

Fitch Ratings (Thailand) has affirmed SCB Asset Management’s national asset-manager rating at ‘M2+(tha)’, with a stable outlook.

The affirmation of SCBAM’s rating is driven by the company’s long history of fund management, its established market position in Thailand, and its strong and committed shareholder – Siam Commercial Bank – said Fitch.

SCBAM also benefits from its parent’s distribution network and extensive resources in risk management, compliance, audit and information technology.

 

SE Asia survey names investor favourites

The five Thai companies most sought after by investors are PTT, its subsidiary Thai Oil, Thai Beverage, Carabao Group and Eastern Polymer Group, according to a survey by Alpha Southeast Asia.

Alpha conducted its fifth annual poll to find Southeast Asia’s top companies between February and June. The findings tallied votes among 520 investors, pension funds, hedge funds, equity and fixed-income brokers, and analysts with investment interests in the Southeast Asia region.

Listed companies in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines were ranked according to institutional investors’ perceptions of their performance in financial management, corporate governance, integrated reporting/corporate social responsibility and investor relations’ strategy.

In Thailand, honours for most improved investor relations went to Carabao Group and the prize for the country’s best annual report went to PTT.

Unlike in other polls, investors were also asked to name companies that did not meet their expectations. In Thailand, they include Bangkok Airways, Kaset Thai International and The Platinum Group.

Across the region, the award for the strongest commitment to sustainable energy in Southeast Asia went to Thailand’s leading integrated energy company Thai Oil for the fourth consecutive year.

ThaiBev’s chief financial officer Sithichai Chaikriangkrai was recognised not only as the "best CFO in Thailand" but also the best in Southeast Asia, as he oversees the financial resources of the company’s growing domestic and regional footprint.- The Nation

PTTEP, 3 others exit Mexican oil auction

PTT Exploration and Production was one of four companies that bowed out of the initial instalment of Mexico’s so-called Round One oil auction, the first step in the country’s historic sector opening, regulator CNH said on Monday.

The Mexican units of Noble Energy and Glencore, as well as Colombian national oil company Ecopetrol, have also asked to exit the competition for 14 shallow-water oilfields set to be awarded on July 15.

The CNH did not specify why the firms decided they would no longer participate in the initial auction for the exploration blocks located along the southern rim of the Gulf of Mexico.

Some oil companies have pointed to tough rescission clauses built into the auction’s production-sharing contracts as a potential problem.

Meanwhile, Premier Oil opted to desist from seeking potential opportunities as an individual operator, but will instead join an existing consortium pre-qualified for the auction.

The July tender now features 18 companies pre-qualified as individual operators, while the slimmed-down pre-qualified consortia stand at seven. |– Reuters

Bangchak sees rise

in Q2 net profit

Bangchak Petroleum aims for a refinery run rate of more than 100,000 barrels per day in the second half of this year, the same as in the first half. The company expects its second-quarter net profit to be higher than in the first quarter thanks to inventory gains and a higher refining margin. – Reuters

Spok, Xovic improve hospital phone alerts

Spok has partnered with Thailand-based medical distributor Xovic to enable healthcare organisations to improve efficiency and safety with better staff communications.

Through this partnership, Xovic distributes Spok’s clinical alerting and secure smartphone messaging solutions to hospitals in Thailand.

Spok and Xovic say their collaboration will enable quick, accurate and secure delivery of patient-monitoring alarm notifications and critical test results to hospital staff’s smartphones.

For example, the Spok clinical alerting solution integrates with the heart monitor to send a message with the room number and type of alert to the patient’s on-duty caregiver if vitals reach a dangerous or critical level. With the Spok Mobile secure smartphone messaging app, these notifications can be sent securely to clinicians’ smartphones, allowing the hospital to speed response and provide top-notch care, Spok says.