Briefs

Siam Cement (SCC) has announced that after the restructuring of Holcim Cement (Bangladesh) Ltd, the board of directors of SCC has approved the sale of SCC’s remaining 10.4-per-cent stake in HCBL. 
The stake was held by SCG Cement Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of SCC, while the buyer of all of SCC’s remaining shares was Holderfin BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of LafargeHolcim.
After the completion of this transaction, expected this month, SCC will receive total proceeds of about Bt590 million, and recognise a non-recurring gain after tax of about Bt315 million.
Meanwhile, Siam City Cement (SCCC) announced that its board of directors had approved the sale of its remaining 9,192 shares, equivalent to 10.4 per cent of the total shares in HCBL, for US$16.92 million (about Bt590 million) to Holderfin BV of the Netherlands. The transaction is expected to be completed this month.

GHB extends loan programme

Government Housing Bank (GHB)has raised the limit for its special 63rd-anniversary low-interest loan programme to Bt37.5 billion from Bt30 billion, and extended the application deadline to December 2 from October 31.
GHB president Chatchai Sirilai said that from the beginning of September to the end of October, customers had requested loans totalling about Bt27 billion under the programme. 
The new deadline is December 2 or until the new total lending limit is reached.
Interest on the loans is minimum retail rate (MRR) minus 6.12 percentage points, equivalent to 0.63 per cent per annum, for the first five months and then MRR minus 3.12 percentage points, equivalent to 3.63 per cent per annum. The bank’s current MRR is 6.75 per cent per annum. 

SET, Taipei Exchange sign MoU 

The Stock Exchange of Thailand and Taipei Exchange (TPEx) have signed a memorandum of understanding heralding closer collaboration to promote development between the Thai and Taiwanese capital markets through information sharing, development of products and services, and enhancement of cross-border transactions. 
These include human-resource exchanges and training and expanded opportunities for investors and stakeholders, SET president Kesara Manchusree said.

Japan expects 800,000 Thai tourists this year

The Japan National Tourism Organisation says 796,731 Thai tourists travelled to Japan in 2015. The most popular cities were Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo and Fukuoka, in that order. 
The organisation also forecast that the number of Thais visiting Japan would reach 800,000 this year.
The JNTO statistics coincide with All Nippon Airways’ largest promotion of the year, the “Endless Inspire Campaign”. 
ANA, Japan’s biggest airline, offers customers a chance to win free tickets to Japan with every purchase of a ticket via its website until December 30, for travel until March 31, 2017. The campaign was launched on October 3.