The property, called the Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate - or Hemaraj ESIE - has cost Bt2.5 billion since late last year. Of this, Bt2.1 billion was spent acquiring the 1,306-hectare plot and the remaining Bt400 million for the first phase of the project's infrastructure development.

The first phase of Hemaraj ESIE will cover 320 hectares.

The company's president and chief executive, David Nardone, said another Bt600 million would be spent before the end of the year on first-phase infrastructure.

Yesterday, Hemaraj Land and Development signed a deal with TT&T Plc to provide an integrated and advanced telecommunications system at the new estate. Hemaraj will invest Bt14 million in telecommunication infrastructure, while TT&T will spend Bt10 million installing it. The service is expected to be ready before the end of the year.

Nardone said Hemaraj ESIE would be developed in three or four phases, requiring additional investment of Bt8 billion to Bt10 billion.

"Funds to further develop the estate will come from the company's working capital. It won't be necessary to raise funds from the capital market," he said.

He said the company had begun to pre-sell the new estate by taking prospective customers to visit the site.

"Our target customers are companies in the automotive industry with a potential for investment expansion in Thailand," Nardone said. "I believe this new project will be successful."

However, he said several economic factors such as rising oil prices and interest rates, as well as Thailand's political uncertainty and conflicts in the Middle East and North Korea, had delayed investment in the Kingdom.

"Some of our customers have delayed their decisions, so that this will result in lower-than-expected pre-sales," Nardone said, adding that the company has signed 21 sales contracts applying to other industrial estates in the group and expects to sign another 50 by the end of the year.

Hemaraj Land and Development operates six industrial estates. Four of the six are owned by the company: Hemaraj Chonburi Industrial Estate; Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate at Map Ta Phut, in Rayong province; Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate at Rayong; and Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate.

The other two are owned by SIL Industrial Land, and Hemaraj Land and Development holds a 25-per-cent interest and management contracts. They are SIL Industrial Land at Saraburi and Rayong Industrial Land.

The company expects revenue of Bt6.5 billion this year, more than double last year's Bt3 billion. Half of the revenue will come from the company's residential projects, including Park Chidlom.

The company reported revenue of Bt1.08 billion and a net profit of Bt401.45 million in the first quarter.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation