"We expected to sell the stock at Bt3 each, while the SET Index stayed at around 730 points," said Kietphong Noichaiboon, Ekarat's chairman. "I admit that it is possible (that we will) lower the offering price to below Bt3 in the current stock market sentiment."

SET Index yesterday lost 0.23 per cent to close the day at 684.55 points amid thin turnover of Bt8.07 billion.

Earlier, Rayong Refinery Plc chose to sell its 1.39 billion IPO shares at the low end of the expected price range of Bt18 to Bt23 per share, due largely to a sluggish stock market environment. Even though the refinery sold at the low end of the range, on one occasion shortly after the June debut its price fell below the offering price.

Kietphong said Ekarat Engineering would set its selling price in discussions next week with Far East Securities, its lead underwriter. The subscription period is expected to take place next month.

Thailand's largest maker of electricity transformers earlier postponed its selling period from June 15 and 16 because of the poor condition of the market.

"The company's business supporters have expressed interest in subscribing to the shares despite the unfavourable stock market conditions," Kietphong said.

Of the 182 million shares, 68 per cent, or 125 million shares, will be earmarked for business supporters and the remainder will go to the underwriter's clients and foreign investors.

Meanwhile, the company's managing director, Wiwat Sangtien, said the final IPO price would depend on the financial requirements of Ekarat Solar, a subsidiary that manufactures solar cells.

"Ekarat Solar needs Bt470 million," he said. "The original plan was to use part of the IPO proceeds to repay the company's debts and to reserve some of it as working capital. It doesn't matter if the company does not receive this money because its financial position is quite healthy, with a debt to equity ratio of 1.39-to-1.

"We are somewhat concerned about the current stock market sentiment, but we don't want to wait any longer because the bourse's sentiment is hard to predict. If the company waits for better market conditions, our business plans may be delayed," Wiwat said.

Ekarat Engineering has forecast sales of Bt1.48 billion this year, 20 per cent more than 2005. In the first six months of 2006, the company posted a net profit of Bt68.4 million.

Wiwat said the company would write off retained losses of Bt40 million to Bt50 million this year and would pay a dividend for its 2006 operations.

Bearish stock market conditions have forced the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) to halve its target for new listings this year from 100 to 50. So far this year, five companies have listed on the stock market. Three of them - G Steel Plc (G-Steel), City Steel Plc (CITY), and SEC Auto Sales and Services (SECC) - performed poorly on debut.

At this pace, only 10 companies will list.