BBL

BBL wins Myanmar licence – Bangkok Bank (BBL), Thailand’s largest lender by assets, is the only Thai bank among the first nine foreign ones to win a limited banking licence in Myanmar. The approval is preliminary for 12 months, during which time the winning banks must comply with Central Bank of Myanmar requirements before starting limited operations by the end of that period, BBL executive vice-president Chairit Anuchitworawong said. (Bangkok Post, 02/10/14)
Comment: Well done to BBL, as much as we like to say that BBL is the dinosaur in the banking industry, they actually have the most number of foreign branches amongst all thai banks by far.

BCP

BCP’s hydrocracking factory idled for 10-day maintenance. BCP says this will not impact its operations. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)

BLAND

BLAND expects to book net profit from IMPACT Growth REIT sale of Bt6bn. It will use Bt700mn on its Ibis Hotel in early 2015 and Bt300mn for 2-3 multi-storey car parks worth Bt300mn. The company is studying setting up a shopping mall. (Thun Hoon, 02/10/14)
Comment: Everyone knows the plan for BLAND already, the stories that will arise post REIT is what else will BLAND do with the cash, massive dividend? Further reinvestment? Expect for rumours to go nuts.

EFORL

To clear losses this quarter — EFORL said that it will clear the last of its Bt280mn in accumulated losses in 3Q14 and plans to start paying out dividend starting next year. It also said that payment for Wuttisak Clinic will be on Oct 31 or at the end of the year. Net profits for this year are also expected to exceed Bt200mn, while revenues at Bt1.3-1.4bn. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)
Comment: Wuttisak is the main reason why people are trading / buying EFORL, and the only reason why Wuttisak couldn’t IPO directly is they have too many lawsuits against them.

ESTAR

In line for big sale of land — ESTAR says a large property company is negotiating to purchase 40 rai of land at Wongsawang MRT and Sukhumvit 77 valued at Bt1.3bn. ESTAR said it has 1000 rai available for sale and expects 3Q14 to be very good as it has transferred more property. It is controlling cost to bring margin up to 35% and expects 2014 net profit of Bt200mn. (Thun Hoon, 02/10/14)
Comment: The value for ESTAR is 100% in its landbank because their earnings can’t justify its valuation

HMPRO

HMPRO will invest more than Bt530mn to expand the number of stores in Isan. It just opened its Nakorn Rachasima branch, bringing total number of branches to 69. It has also set target sales of Bt48mn per month for the new store. The company has joined with TSE to develop the largest commercial solar rooftop in Thailand. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)

ILINK

ILINK signs 10-year contract with TRUE to provide dark fiber services with a value worth Bt745mn. The company expects to start booking revenue starting in 4Q14. As for 3Q14 earnings, it expects net profit to increase by 25% YoY. It is also waiting to sign for a data center with banks worth Bt400mn this November. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)

JMT

JMT has signed agreement to obtain bad debt from AEONTS worth Bt1.83bn. The company expects large growth in 3Q14 as it books revenue from turning bad debt around. It is confident it will obtain Bt20bn bad debt in 2014 bringing total portfolio up to Bt50bn. (Thun Hoon, 02/10/14)
Comment: JMT is still the largest debt collector in Thailand today.

KBANK

KBANK maintains its loan growth target of 6-7%, with NPLs at 2.1-2.2%. It expects the baht to strengthen in the short term before weakening to Bt33/share at the end of the year. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)

PREB

PREB expects brighter 3Q14 revenue than 3Q13’s Bt1.8bn as it has larger backlog and has launched a new condo worth Bt220mn at Phaholyothin to support growth. (Thun Hoon, 02/10/14)

SCC

SCC expects paper business to grow 10% YoY in 2014 from 2013 revenue of Bt60bn. The company expects revenue to peak in 4Q14, supported by public stimulus and growing ASEAN. It expects EBITDA margin of 15-16% in 2014 and will invest in packaging paper in Vietnam and Indonesia. (Thun Hoon, 02/10/14)

SEAFCO

SEAFCO wins four new contracts to do bored pile work worth a total of Bt130mn. It expects to book all the revenue this year. It is also waiting to sign for new work in Myanmar of more than Bt100mn in October and transfer its work for Icon Siam worth Bt400mn this November. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)

SIRI

Presales as of 9M14 almost Bt20bn. It is confident that revenue for year will reach its target of Bt33bn driven by backlog of Bt50bn, with more than Bt10bn to be booked this year. In 4Q14 it will launch 13 new projects worth Bt23.5bn. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)

SITHAI

SITHAI invests Bt650 to set up a subsidiary New Co. in Vietnam to produce and sell food and beverage packaging, expected to start operations in 2015. Management expects a good performance in 3Q14 as demand has recovered. The company will cooperate with a foreign partner for an OEM beverage business. (Thun Hoon, 02/10/14)

SMART

First day of trading today — The financial industry expects SMART to trade above Bt3/share on its first day of trading today, grounded in its strong fundamentals and potential business growth. The Managing Director of the company is confident that share price will stay above its IPO price of Bt1.90/share and expects revenue this year to grow by 20% from last year’s Bt416mn driven by higher demand for lightweight concrete block following the recovery of the economy. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)
Comment: Good for CCP and as usual its a small IPO that will most likely do very very well on its first day.

TTA

TTA buys a bit of Grandness – SET-listed Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc (TTA) has diversified into food, spending nearly 1 billion baht to acquire 9% of Singaporean-listed Sino Grandness Food Industry Group, a Chinese maker and distributor of canned food and drinks. (Bangkok Post, 02/10/14)
Comment: Purely on a numbers basis it is a damn cheap investment.

UWC

UWC’s management expects 2014 revenue will be lower than 2013’s Bt716.83mn as bidding was delayed and the company could not book revenue from backlog as it expected. (Kao Hoon, 02/10/14)