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The Pacific Asia Travel Association issued a |statement yesterday to all its members world wide in respect of the passing of His Majesty |the King.
“It was with considerable sorrow and great sadness that we learned of the passing of Thailand’s monarch, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej,” PATA CEO Dr Mario Hardy wrote in the statement.
“His Majesty was loved and revered by all our staff and this is, inevitably, a very sad time for them, for the Royal Family and, indeed, for all Thai citizens.
“The dedication shown by His Majesty the King to his country and his people has long been admired by heads of state, government leaders and the people of nations around the world. There is… in Thailand a feeling of immense loss.
“The PATA head office in Bangkok remains open but there may be, in the coming days and weeks, some disruption to our normal business operations. We shall, in all cases, abide by the instructions issued from the Palace and by the government.”
“Thailand has been the home of the Pacific Asia Travel Association for nearly 20 years and we share today the immense feeling of sadness and loss at the passing of a truly remarkable monarch. I am sure that you will wish to join me in extending your condolences to our colleagues in Bangkok and to the people of Thailand.”

BANPU POWER PRICES IPO
AT TOP END OF RANGE

Banpu Power has priced its initial public |offering at Bt21 per share, the top end of its indicative range of Bt18-Bt21, to raise Bt13.6 billion, International Financing Review reported |yesterday.
Books closed a day earlier on Thursday and were multiple times covered with demand from local and institutional investors, IFR said, quoting a source close to the transaction.
The IPO comprises a public offer of 438 million shares and a preferential offer of |210 million shares to shareholders of its parent Banpu, according to IFR.
The retail tranche will run as per schedule from October 18-20 and shares will list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on October 28, IFR said.
The book-building process ended after the SET rebound late on Thursday and extended gains, rising more than 3 per cent yesterday |morning on hopes that the country will remain calm after the death of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Thursday.
Banpu Power originally planned to announce the IPO price next Monday.
Banpu Power has stakes in conventional and renewable power plants with generating capacity of 1,883 megawatts, including solar plants in China and Japan.
Credit Suisse Private Bank and Capital Research have agreed to buy 110 million shares as cornerstone investors. This tranche is part of the public offer, IFR said.
Bualuang Securities, Credit Suisse, CIMB, Kasikornbank, Quant and Thanachart Securities are the banks on the transaction. – Reuters
 
KBANK EXPECTS LOWER
NON-INTEREST INCOME GROWTH

Kasikornbank has projected non-interest income growth for 2017 of up to 5 per cent, just half of the expected growth of 10 per cent this year, it reported yesterday to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
The financial targets for 2017 were approved by KBank’s board of directors on September 29.
The bank’s non-interest-income proportion |for next year is 40 per cent, the same figure as |targeted for 2016, but the growth of non-interest income is projected as being lower. This assumes that some income will be gone because of the free money transfers once PromptPay goes into effect early next year.
The implementation of PromptPay has been delayed from October 31 because the Thai Bankers’ Association wants to ensure that the money-transfer system will be sufficiently stable to accommodate customers nationwide.
The bank has maintained its target for net interest margin at 3.3-3.5 per cent for 2017 even though loan growth is projected at 4-6 per cent compared with 6-7 per cent in its 2016 financial target.
Non-performing loans in 2017 are expected to improve to 3.3-3.4 per cent from this year’s estimated 3.5-3.6 per cent.