AKR
Solar license soon — AKR’s management said that the state should decide on the licensing of the total 800MW of solar license sometime in February-March. It expects to receive license for 20-30MW, which should help profit. (Thun Hoon, 21/01/15)

AMATA
AMATA sees good 2015 ahead as it expects to book Bt4bn in revenue from its backlog. It is also in negotiations with Chinese and Japanese clients to sell more land. It plans to invest Bt3-4bn to develop land in industrial estates both at home and abroad. (Thun Hoon, 21/01/15)
Comment: Only two things to care about for AMATA this year, one the IPO of Amata Vietnam, two its REIT.

AOT
AOT to name new head today – The new president of the Airports of Thailand Plc (AOT) should be announced today, while the agency continues to go ahead with its plan to expand airports nationwide and launch promotions to deal with the rebound in the travel industry. (The Nation, 21/01/15)

BCP
Employees trying to halt PTT sale of shares — BCP employees have drafted a letter to the PM in hopes of halting the sale of BCP shares held by PTT. The employees say they do not want BCP shares to fall in the hands of other investors and confirm that they have no plan to buy more BCP shares themselves with their own money or via loans, which the board had proposed earlier. (Krungthep Turakij, 21/01/15)
Comment: If management was incredibly confident in the future of BCP, an MBO should be an option but I suppose their recent purchase of an oil co pre oil price crash doesn’t instill much confidence in the banks.

BEAUTY
BEAUTY target revenues this year of Bt1.7bn, up 20% YoY. It plans to maintain its net margin at 20% and will invest Bt300mn to expand the number of its stores, open a new warehouse and training center and also on new software. (Kao Hoon, 21/01/15)

BRR
BRR budgets Bt200mn for a third biomass power plant with capacity of 8MW. It expects earnings this year to grow by 70% from last year driven by the high number of sugar orders and increase in electricity production. (Thun Hoon, 21/01/15)

CPF
CP Group, Itochu to jointly invest US$10 bn in China’s Citic Group – Charoen Pokphand Group and its strategic partner, Japanese trading powerhouse Itochu Corp, plan to invest a whopping US$10bn (Bt326bn) in Citic Group, China’s oldest and biggest conglomerate. (The Nation, 21/1/15)
Comment: From my understand, Itochu is the firm putting up most of the $ in this deal.

EPCO
PCO will start operating its 8-10MW solar plant in 2015. It hopes to reach a conclusion on its plan to acquire a power plant in Europe sometime in the first half of the year. It expects revenue portion from abroad will increase to 25% this year. It expects revenues this year to grow by 15-20% with profit growth of 30%. (Kao Hoon, 21/01/15)

FIRE
FIRE target revenues growth this year of 15-20% supported by 3-4 new products. It is planning a new marketing strategy in Thailand to help prepare for a new US product from its US partner. (Kao Hoon, 21/01/15)

GRAND
GRAND says profit this year will be strong. It plans to launch a new condominium worth Bt4bn this March. It said that it has a large land bank on which it plans to develop big projects. The company will invest Bt1-1.5bn to take over hotels both upcountry and abroad. The company says 4Q14 will be strong due to revenue from “Hyde Sukhumvit” and expects the board to approve a dividend payment of 50%. (Thun Hoon, 21/01/15)

HEMRAJ
HEMRAJ sells 665 rai of land in 2014 (266 acres or 106 hectares) under a total of 42 contracts, 31 of which are new clients. Thirty percent of the investors were Japanese; thirty percent were also from the automotive sector. (Thansethakij website, 20/01/15)
Comment: The only story with hemraj today is that it is being bought by WHA

KCM
KCM plans to expand into Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia in hopes of increasing sales. It plans to invest in a warehouse, but expects the study on it to take 1-2 years. For 2015, it targets revenue growth of 15-20% after it opened three new offices. (Kao Hoon, 21/01/15)

PCSGH
PCSGH says it has received Bt500mn in new work to produce parts for big trucks. It said it will continue to prepare its machines and manpower to support the future flows of orders. (Kao Hoon, 21/01/15)

RML
RML expects net profits to exceed Bt1.25bn in 2014. It expects to book in Bt5bn of the Bt10bn backlog on hand in 2015. (Kao Hoon, 21/01/15)
Comment: The main issue I’ve had with RML (disclosure: held shares in RML from 2010 – 2012) is that their earnings will continue to go lower because of they don’t have the necessary backlog on hand to maintain the growth – unless management becomes creative in its profit recognition.

SIRI
Sansiri budgets Bt31bn for 2015 investments – Sansiri Plc plans to invest Bt31bn this year – Bt7bn to buy land and Bt24bn to construct infrastructure and residential projects. (The Nation, 21/01/15)
Comment: The former darling of investors in the property sector has become the ugly duckling due to bad performance figures and now project cancellations.

TPCH
TPCH restructures its three year business plan. It now plans to increase its total production capacity to 150MW after the Ministry of Industry granted the Factory Permit (Ror Gor 4) for its Phattalung and Satun power plants. It plans to develop biomass power plant projects in 14 more provinces. TPCH has given parent company TPOLY Bt1.3bn worth of work to develop its Phattulung and Satun power plants. (Kao Hoon, 21/01/15)

TPOLY
TPOLY plans to bid for four new projects and expects to win 50%, which will help increase its backlog from the current Bt4bn. It plans to launch a new real estate project worth Bt600mn. The company guarantees that it will post a turnaround in its earnings this year supported by work on hand and its power plant business. (Thun Hoon, 21/01/15)
Comment: Doesn’t this sound similar to CK? Construction co holds a sub that invests in power projects.

TTA
TTA sets RO subscription price for new shares – Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc (TTA) has set the rights offering (RO) subscription price for its newly issued shares at Bt14 or a discount of 25% on the volume weighted average price of company shares over the past 30 consecutive business days. PM Thoresen Asia Holdings (PMTA) shares will be offered as a pre-emptive right to its shareholders for Bt17-20 in an IPO, president and chief executive Chalermchai Mahagitsiri said yesterday. (Bangkok Post, 21/01/15)
Comment: Another RO by TTA, this company must have a lot of difficulty with its ongoing business, why the purchase of that odd chinese food company then?

UNIQ
2015 better than 2014 — UNIQ is confident that revenue this year will be higher than last year’s Bt8bn supported by the government plans to auction Bt900bn worth of infrastructure work this year. It currently has more than Bt20bn of backlog on hand and expects to win three of the skytrain lines. (Kao Hoon, 21/01/15)
Comment: UNIQ has been the star performer in the sector in the past 12 months, they’ve raised capital and even CK management thinks they’ll become one of the new large players.