The acquisition plan was agreed by ETA's board and the Transport Ministry during the previous government, but was automatically sent back to seek renewed approval from the ministry after the coup staged last September.

Payao said if the ETAs' board does not consent to the acquisition, BECL would insist ETA buy back the concession for operating Bangkok's northern expressway from NECL at book value.

She said NECL, 53.3 per cent owned by BECL, had consistently operated in the red as a result of government policy to construct other competitive roads. This has led to NECL recording Bt4.34 billion in accumulated losses and being a burden to BECL

"The acquisition will help transfer assets, including liabilities of NECL, to its parent company BECL that can be used as a deduction in its corporate tax payment," said Payao, adding that BECL would have more financial strength and flexible management as a result.

NECL has registered capital of Bt6 billion, of which Bt4.35 billion is paid up.

However, Payao said NECL would continue to campaign to reduce toll charges to attract motorists to make more use of its expressway.

Payoa said BECL and NECL had posted Bt1.54 billion in net profit last year, compared to Bt1.49 billion a year earlier.

As a result of rising traffic on the expressways, BECL reported to its recent shareholders' meeting that it would pay a dividend of 50 satang a share for last year's second-half operations.

Watcharapong Thongrung,

The Nation