BECL

Case against BECL dismissed —On May 3, the Central Administrative Court dismissed the case filed by EXAT in 2008 appealing the arbitral award, and thus EXAT is again facing a payment of Bt1.79bn (plus interest until completely paid off) to NECL. This was earlier awarded by a court in compensation for a reduction in revenue during 1999-2000 due to a competing road under the Bang Pa In – Pak Kret Expressway, but EXAT filed an appeal at that time, Now, EXAT has the right to file another appeal before June 2, 2013.

Comment: Quick #s show that the compensation is worth thb 2.3/share, but knowing how long thai courts take to rule on anything, this could still go back and forth for a few more years.

BTS

Governor reveals new BTS fare rates — Fares on the BTS skytrain extension between On Nut and Soi Bearing will be reduced from Bt15 to Bt10, Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand said yesterday. The fare reduction, which will start on May 17, was agreed to in an MoU between the city and BTS. The BTS, however, has decided to increase fares by Bt2 starting June 1 on the original network from On Nut to Mor Chit and the National Stadium to Saphan Taksin. (Bangkok Post, 09/05/13)

Comment: Commented on this earlier, expected increase in the fares, minimal impact on the stock today, in our eyes the story for bts is done as its fund has already listed.

TRUE

True Move first to launch 4G, but on limited scale — True Move has moved preemptively to beat its bigger rivals with yesterday’s launch of Thailand’s first commercial 4G wireless broadband service on a limited scale. It has rolled out 4G and 3G service on the 2.1GHz band with 500 base stations for each network. (Bangkok Post, 09/05/13)

NBTC gives True one week for 3G switch — True Move has been given another week by the NBTC to transfer full management of its 3G network operation center to CAT Telecom under the latter’s 3G network contracts. Failing that, the watchdog will send a letter warning TRUE to stop marketing its 3G services on the 850 MHz band. True had been ordered to transfer management by mid-April. (Bangkok Post, 09/05/13)

Comment: This company shouldn’t be trading above 0.0 baht