Gunkul studies feasibility of infrastructure fund for expansion
Renewable-energy company Gunkul Engineering is conducting a feasibility study on setting up an infrastructure fund to improve cash flow and control its debt as it expects to require more money to expand both locally and abroad.
Gunkul president Sopacha Dhumrongpiyawut said the company had appointed Siam Commercial Bank as financial adviser for the proposed infrastructure fund, which should be around Bt4 billion to Bt5 billion in size.
The infrastructure fund would ensure that the company had sufficient cash flow to expand, and it might not increase capital in the short term.
SCB holds a 3-per-cent stake in Gunkul after the company issued 41.5 million new ordinary shares at the subscription price of Bt24.50 for private placement to the bank.
Including funds raised from a rights issue and warrants issued recently, the company will have cash of Bt7 billion to invest in renewable projects include renewable projects in Japan, she said.
SCB also cooperated with two Japanese banks – Mizuho Bank and Shinsei Bank – to support the takeover of three renewable-energy projects in Japan, and the project financing is expected to be completed in April or May, Sopacha said.
This year, Gunkul plans to allocate Bt2.6 billion for investment, of which Bt2 billion will be for existing projects and the rest for new solar farms with overall capacity of 100 megawatts. "We hope to have a power purchase agreement for 436MW this year," she said.
The company expects net profit this year to grow by at least 30 per cent because it will realise full revenue from commercial operation of solar farms in Thailand.
Moreover, the company will gain revenue from supplying electricity from its wind-energy projects, which have capacity of 60MW, so total revenue should grow by 25 per cent to Bt6 billion from Bt4.8 billion last year.
