Briefs

Thai Airways International’s Bt8-billion senior unsecured debentures were oversubscribed, reflecting investors’ confidence in the national flag carrier’s good management and sustainable financial status and build-up of its long-term reference return, THAI said.
The debentures, which have Tris’ “A” rating with a “stable” outlook, consist of five tranches. 
The three-year, five-year and seven-year debenture tranches are valued at Bt1 billion each. The 10-year debenture tranche is valued at Bt2 billion and that of the 15-year debentures Bt2 billion.
Narongchai Wongthanavimok, vice president of THAI, said the debenture issues were part of the airline’s debt management, and the 15-year debentures were offered for the first time, allowing the company to manage fixed costs for long-term financing better and benefit from low interest rates.

BOT ADJUSTING P2P LENDING RULES

The Bank of Thailand is adjusting its regulation involving peer-to-peer (P2P) lending on expectation for all processes to be finalised before the end of this year.
Siritida Panomwon Na Ayudhya, BOT assistant governor for the Payment Systems Policy and Financial Technology Group, said that after a recent hearing with operators, the central bank had decided to adjust the regulation.
The BOT will forward the amended regulation to the Finance Ministry, which will be responsible for granting the P2P licences, for consideration.
“If the ministry agrees, an announcement will be made. But the service providers are required to test [such] services in the BOT’s regulatory sandbox,” she said.
So far, only the Kasikorn Business Technology Group has tested its technology in the regulatory sandbox. Beginning on April 17, the first phase will take about three months. Four or five more operators have since applied for testing and are expected to be approved for the sandbox soon. 

KBANK TARGETS NPLS AT 3.3-3.4%

Kasikornbank has attributed efficient debt quality control to its expectation for this year’s non-performing loan (NPL) rate in a range of 3.3-3.4 per cent of total lending.
Showing little concern about the effects of cash-strapped Energy Earth’s bill-of-exchange default, Pipit Aneaknithi, president at KBank, said: “In the overall credit portfolio, the bank’s debt quality remains normal. As far as I see, it [Earth’s B/E default] has not had an impact. The bank’s target for debt quality has not been revised.”
The bank’s NPL rate dropped slightly to 3.31 per cent at the end of the first quarter from 3.32 per cent at the end of last year. 
KBank maintains its target for this year’s loan growth at 4-6 per cent, while expecting loan extension to accelerate in line with the Thai economy in the latter half of this year, which could be driven by government investment, exports and tourism. 

Fitch forecasts stronger global growth

The recovery in global growth is strengthening and is expected to pick up to 2.9 per cent this year and peak at 3.1 per cent in 2018, the highest rate since 2010, Fitch Ratings says in its latest “Global Economic Outlook” (GEO).
“Faster growth this year reflects a synchronised improvement across both advanced and emerging market economies,” said Brian Coulton, Fitch’s chief economist. 
“Macro policies and tightening labour markets are supporting demand growth in advanced countries, while the turnaround in China’s housing market since 2015 and the recovery in commodity prices from early 2016 has fuelled a rebound in emerging-market demand.” 
The biggest positive forecast revision since Fitch’s March GEO is to the euro zone. Here, stronger incoming data, improving external demand and greater confidence that quantitative easing (QE) by the European Central Bank (ECB) is gaining traction on activity have resulted in an upward revision of 0.3 percentage point to the 2017 euro-zone growth forecast, taking it to 2 per cent. 
The recent pick-up in world trade growth has also been striking. 
However, this improving global picture implies an evolving monetary-policy outlook. China has recently seen a tightening in credit conditions, which will start to have an impact on growth later this year, and the US Federal Reserve looks set to pursue a normalisation course at a rate of three or four interest-rate increases per year through 2019. 
Low core inflation allows the ECB to carry on with QE for the time being, but the reduction in deflation risks will see the programme phased out by mid-2018, the report says. 
“With the Fed now signalling that QE will start to be unwound later this year, these monetary-policy adjustments could spark some volatility in global financial markets attuned to persistent monetary accommodation,” Coulton said.

KBank JCB Credit Card introduced

Kasikornbank and JCB International, the international-operations subsidiary of Japanese credit-card firm JCB Co, have introduced the KBank JCB Credit Card. 
A wide range of attractive privileges are offered, with first-year targets of 100,000 cards and spending of Bt2 billion.
KBank president Pipit Aneaknithi said the popularity of Japan had continued to flourish in Thailand. That country welcomed 900,000 tourists from Thailand last year, generating the sixth-highest tourism receipts of worldwide visitors. In addition to Japan’s charming shopping venues and unique cultural tourism sites, appealing marketing activities and promotional campaigns have been added as attractions for Thai customers. 
Last year, spending in Japan via K-Credit Card amounted to about Bt3.3 billion, with accommodations, apparel and retail merchandise ranked as the top three spending categories. 

Asia-Pacific credit conditions |‘set to improve’

The Asia-Pacific region’s positive fundamentals could lift credit conditions in the third quarter of 2017, S&P Global Ratings says in an article titled “Asia-Pacific Credit Conditions Q3 2017: Likely to Improve if Market Sentiment Holds”.
“Macroeconomic trends and financing availability are improving in Asia-Pacific. In addition, stabilising trading conditions are easing negative pressure in the region’s metals and mining sector,” said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Terry Chan. “These positive fundamentals [will] lift credit conditions in Asia-Pacific for the coming quarter.”
Nevertheless, risks remain for the region’s credit markets. The top risk is the potential impact of higher interest rates, particularly as regional issuers continue to borrow in foreign currencies. This widens their exposure to potential rate increases by the US Federal Reserve.

B Grimm Power plans IPO

B Grimm Power has announced its intention to offer 716.9 million newly issued shares under an initial public offering (IPO) at the price of Bt15-Bt16.5 per share. The subscription will be open from July 3-6, and the shares will begin trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on July 19.
Interested investors are invited to attend B Grimm Power’s “Big Panel Roadshow” to learn more about the BGRIM IPO next Monday. 
The company will also share with prospective investors the details of its new power projects with already-acquired power purchase agreements that will begin generating income over the next five years, as well as its expansion prospects in Thailand and abroad, with a target capacity of 5,000 megawatts, said Harald Link, chairman of B Grimm and B Grimm Power Group. 
At present the company has a total of 43 power projects, comprising 28 plants in commercial operation with a total capacity of 1,626MW, five projects under construction with a total capacity of 419.1MW, and 10 projects under development with a total capacity of 338.5MW. The total generating capacity of the projects will be 2,357MW by 2021. The company reported Bt7.65 billion in revenue in the first quarter, an increase of 12.8 per cent from the same period last year. 

Electrical, electronic exports up 7% in Q1

Export of electrical and electronic products grew by 7 per cent in the first quarter and continued growth is expected throughout this year, the Electrical, Electronics, Telecommunications, and Allied Industries Club of the Federation of Thai Industries said.
Kamjorn Khunvapanichkul, vice chairman of the club, said that to boost export growth in this sector, Thailand would in September host the “Bangkok Refrigeration, Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning” and “Bangkok Electric and Electronics” fairs, the biggest dual event of its kind in Asean. 
Bangkok RHVAC, held under the theme “Eco Innovation for a Sustainable Future”, will highlight environment-friendly innovation, while Bangkok E&E, held under the “Smart Innovation for an Ultimate Lifestyle” concept, will showcase the latest technology trends. 
The Commerce Ministry’s Department of International Trade Promotion aims to bring together 1,000 exhibition booths that will attract more than 10,000 visitors from both local and major international markets such as Asean, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin-America. 
The two fairs are expected to generate more than Bt3 billion. The event will take place from September 7-10 at Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Bang Na district.