Amata's fortunes improve on ruling
Amata Corp expects its land sales to double from last year, thanks to the brightening political climate.
"Our lot sales in the first two quarters of this year are almost equivalent to last year's sales," Viboon Kromadit, director and senior vice president, said yesterday.
All business operators were happy when they heard the clear decisions on election fraud cases from the Constitution Tribunal on May 30, he said. Six foreign firms signed deals to rent factories at the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate in Chon Buri and Amata City in Rayong upon learning of the court's verdict, he said. In the first quarter, Amata's sales grew 40 per cent from the 160 rai sold in the same quarter last year. It sold about 130 rai in the second quarter last year. He declined to comment on the group's revenue target for this year because political movements still remain. "The certainty of the country's politics does affect our business. If it's unstable, we dare not forecast anything," he said. About 70 per cent of the group's revenue will still come from rentals and land sales in its industrial parks, while the remaining 30 per cent will come from infrastructure services such as water management in the projects. It reported to the stock exchange that its first-quarter net profit had nose-dived about 45 per cent to Bt148.79 million, due mainly to the baht's strength. Amata has set up Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Realty Development with registered capital of Bt50 million. The new company - a 30:70 joint venture of Amata City and Holly, a China-based developer - will build rental factories on 800-900 rai in Amata City to support the expansion of Chinese investors. It will invest Bt100 million-Bt200 million to develop some 8,000 square metres in the first phase, which is expected to commence operations at the end of the year. "The Chinese government has encouraged its companies to invest in other countries due to its huge reserves. Fortunately, we succeeded in signing a contract with Holly and became one of eight countries that it supports," he said. Its first customer is a copper-wire manufacturer. The Finance Ministry's announcement on Tuesday to impose an excise duty of 17 per cent on eco-car makers was good news for Amata, Viboon said, because it took advantage of Amata's location, which is near many of the assembly plants of major auto-makers such as Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi. "If all the criteria and incentives for eco-cars are obvious, I'm quite confident our land sales will soar substantially, like they did in 2004 and 2005," he added.
Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul The Nation
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