Developers' debenture issues to total Bt34 bn this year

SC Asset Corporation plans to issue debentures worth Bt3 billion this month offering interest rates of 4-4.2 per cent per annum.

"This will help us cut our interest costs and make our capital management longer-term to fund our project launches this year and next," SC Asset chief financial officer Attapol Sariddipuntawat said.

This month’s debenture issues will take the company’s interest costs below the current average of 5 per cent, he said.

Sansiri issued a debenture |worth Bt2 billion last month, offering an interest rate of 4.75 per |cent, to support its business plan for this year.

Pruksa Real Estate chief operating officer Lersak Chuladesa said: "We plan to issue debentures totalling Bt3 billion this year thanks to the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision [in March] to cut the benchmark rate by 25 basis points. This supported our decision to issue debentures in the middle of this year to cut our financing costs."

According to a survey by The Nation, 10 listed property firms have announced plans to issue debentures worth a total of Bt34.2 billion this year. Some of them will utilise the funds to repay some debentures that expire this year, while others will use them for business expansion.

AP (Thailand) executive Pumipat Sinacharoen said the company issued its first debentures worth Bt2 billion in January.

The first tranche for two and a half years was worth Bt500 million with a 3.05-per-cent interest rate, and the second tranche for five years was worth Bt1.5 billion paying 3.58 per cent.

The company also plans another debenture issue worth about Bt1.5 billion in the second half of this year, with a lower interest rate than |what it offered in January, thanks |to the Bank of Thailand’s recent |policy-rate cuts.