Briefs

Laos authorised to issue baht bonds

The Finance Ministry has given the green light for the Laotian government and foreign financial institutions to mobilise funds worth Bt59 billion via the issue of baht bonds by the end of September.

The Industrial Bank of Korea, ING Bank NV, The Export-Import Bank of Korea, Shinhan Bank, and Woori Bank will be allowed to issue baht bonds worth up to Bt10 billion each. Rabobank Nederland is permitted to issue baht bonds worth up to Bt4 billion, Noble Group up to Bt3.5 billion, and the Laotian Finance Ministry up to Bt1.5 billion.

Jurarat Suteetorn, director of the Public Debt Management Office, said the Thai Finance Ministry had allowed the Laotian government to issue baht bonds as part of the coordination between the two countries in the development of the Asian Bond Market Initiative and the establishment of the Asean Economic Community Blueprint.

AOT airports see 11.9% more passengers

Total air-traffic volume at the six airports under Airports of Thailand’s supervision last year increased by 10.5 per cent and passenger volumes surged by 12 per cent, said Somchai Sawasdeepon, acting president of AOT.

The volume of passengers at all six airports including Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok was 74.26 million, up by 11.9 per cent year on year, and the total volume of aircraft was 496,749, an increase of 10.5 per cent.

Suvarnabhumi Airport alone had passenger volume of 51.46 million and air-traffic volume of 312,493, followed by Phuket International Airport with passenger volume of 9.44 million and air-traffic volume of 60,457.

CIMB Thai acquires WorldLease

CIMB Thai Bank has increased its investment in WorldLease Co, a subsidiary, to 99.99 per cent by buying the remaining 24.93 per cent. The transaction is valued at Bt140 million, the bank reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

AirAsia Expedia gets new CEO

AirAsia Expedia, a joint venture between low-cost airline AirAsia and the Expedia group, the world’s largest online travel company, announced Kathleen Tan's ascension to chief executive officer of AAE.

AirAsia declared the promotion of Siegtraund Teh to take on Tan's responsibilities as group chief commercial officer of AirAsia.

In her new role, Tan will oversee the Expedia brand, AirAsiaGo, and Backick online travel agency businesses in Southeast Asia, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Siegtraund meanwhile, will take over for Tan in managing AirAsia's commercial team and implementing commercial performance improvements across the AirAsia group.

TRIS downgrades Noble Development

TRIS Rating has lowered the company rating of Noble Development to "BBB" from "BBB+".

At the same time, TRIS Rating also downgraded Noble's senior debentures to "BBB-" from "BBB". The outlook remains stable.

The downgrade is due to the company's operating performance, which is lower than expectations, and its rising financial leverage.