Thai Tap Water Supply (TTW) has postponed its plan to go public from the third quarter to the fourth quarter.

The deferral came after the company was told to amend its filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last year because it had acquired Pathum Thani Water, managing director Sompodh Sripoom told reporters at a press briefing yesterday.

Funds to be used to repay Bt3-billion debts will be included in the new filing, Sompodh said.

TTW will debut in the stock market in the first quarter next year if its plans are delayed by the time-consuming scrutiny of the securities watchdog or any unexpected development, he said.

"The company took over Pathum Thani Water as suggested by the SEC to solve a conflict of interest. Ch Karnchang is the company's major shareholder and it was the major shareholder of Pathum Thani Water as well," Sompodh said.

"The acquisition will strengthen the company as both TTW and Pathum Thani Water provide service in high-demand areas, so we are confident our earnings will improve."

The deal will raise TTW's debts-to-equity ratio to 3 times and it will fall to 1.7 times following the share allocation, he said.

TTW has a production capacity of 320,000 cubic metres a day and a water-distribution rate of 250,000 cubic metres per day. Pathum Thani Water's production capacity and distribution rate are both 320,000 cubic metres per day.

Last year, TTW's net profit was Bt670 million and Pathum Thani Water's net profit was Bt545 million, thanks to an unpaid water-rate adjustment from 1998.

TTW yesterday signed a contract to acquire 11.76 million shares, or 98 per cent, in Pathum Thani Water at a price of Bt340 in a deal worth Bt4 billion from Ch Karnchang, Mahasiri Siam, STC Capital Holding, Capital Rice, Ch Karnchang Holding, TMB Bank and Krung Thai Bank.

Proceeds used to finance the acquisition were loans from Siam Commercial Bank and Bangkok Bank.

TTW plans to allocate 40 million shares to its staff and directors and another one billion shares to the public.

Of the one billion shares, 700 million will be newly issued shares while the rest are held by the company's major shareholders.

Its shareholders are Ch Karnchang with 47.7 per cent, Mitsui Water Holding (Thailand) 35 per cent, Bangkok Expressway 12.5 per cent, Bangkok Bank 2.5 per cent and TMB Bank 2.3 per cent.

Sompodh said TTW's sales growth this year would be maintained at 20 per cent from Bt1.8 billion last year.

It plans to diversify its customer base into households as 52 per cent of its customers are in the industrial sector, he said.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that CLSA Securities (Thailand) has upgraded its investment weighting in the Thai stock market from zero to 1 per cent.

Siriporn  Chanjindamanee

The Nation