Forth
Revenue down on slow hard disk drive market — FORTH says its revenue will fall from last year’s Bt5.9bn to Bt5bn this year due to the slowdown in the hard disk drive market. However, it is confident that net profit will increase to Bt250mn from Bt93mn. (Khao Hoon, 15/10/13)

Comment: Thailand has been the worlds largest hard disk drive manufacturer for the past few years, however the shift within the industry (i.e. pc sales down to tablet sales up) have hurt manufacturers such as forth, what we thought the real value in forth was its boonterm machines

INTUCH

In Touch on the lookout for digital TV partnership — INTUCH outlined its plan to expand its digital television business by positioning itself as a “TV channel manager” rather than a “broadcaster”. (Bangkok Post, 15/10/13)

PTT

Negotiations over land lease — The SRT is insisting on annual rent of Bt1.7bn for the life of the 30-year contract while PTT is standing firm on its old terms of Bt800mn. If they cannot reach an agreement, PTT will have to move out of its HQ. (Khao Hoon, 15/10/13)

Comment: Well…the SRT does have a tonne of land that is incredibly underutilised. Thinking aloud…does PTT have two books of accounts for this type of thing?

PTTGC

To make hefty provisions for oil spill — PTTCG is making provisions of Bt1bn for damages caused by the oil spill. However it remains confident that this year EBIDA will grow 10% and it will continue with its joint venture plans for a port terminal this year. (Khao Hoon, 15/10/13)

RATCH

Biomass plant underway — RATCH’s Songkhla biomass power plant is now under construction and commercial operations are expected to commence in October next year. (Khao Hoon, 15/10/13)

SRICHA

New deal abroad upcoming — SRICHA will announce a new deal valued at Bt6-10bn. It says the project will be a construction project in either Africa, Australia, or Latin America. (Khao Hoon, 15/10/13)

Comment: If this is the case, they may need to raise capital to fund the project works

TCAP

TBANK doing well — TBANK says it will report 3Q13-4Q13 profit of over Bt2bn, backed by achieving its loan growth target of 10%. It expects annual loan growth of at 8-10% with declining NPLs. (Khao Hoon, 15/10/13)