Tongkah Harbour seeks US listing
Tongkah Harbour Plc is seeking to list its American Depository Receipts (ADRs) on the US stock exchange.
The tin and gold mining operator said in a filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) yesterday that it has been working with Deutsche Bank to issue ADRs to facilitate the trading of its shares in the international investment market."Currently, the ADR status is pending the approval of the US SEC," it said, referring to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Once the ADRs are approved the company will enter into a deposit agreement with Deutsche Bank, the company said. If the ADR issuance proceeds as planned, Tongkah Harbour will be the first Thai company to list on the US stock market. Earlier, Shin Corp Plc had planned to seek listing on the Nasdaq exchange, but the plan was revoked due to the poor market at the time. In the first quarter of this year the company posted a net loss of Bt23.35 million. It lost Bt19.44 million in 2002, Bt43.28 million in 2003, Bt57.21 million in 2004 and Bt69.02 million last year. The company is listed on the SET but is suspended from share trading pending a return to overall profitability, it said. Tongkah Harbour "can apply for lifting of the suspension once an overall profit for three consecutive quarters is reported, or if the company's profits in a single quarter exceed total losses in the three preceding quarters," it said, adding that it aimed to "qualify for lifting of the trading suspension as soon as possible". It said its gold mining project was in the commissioning phase and that the first gold pouring had been successful. - The Nation
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