Briefs

ADB pens disaster-strategy report

ADB pens disaster-strategy report

The Asian Development Bank will this week release the report "Investing in Resilience - Ensuring a Disaster-Resistant Future", which examines the instruments and mechanisms that currently exist in Asia to protect against natural disasters and offers solutions for stronger disaster resilience, including how disaster risks can be financed through disaster insurance and other means.

Natural hazards continue to cause significant loss of life in Asia-Pacific. From 1970-2010, 1.7 million hazard-related deaths were recorded in the region - 51 per cent of the global total. The report finds that the rise in disaster losses has been outpacing GDP growth - in other words, disaster losses are rising more rapidly than the region is expanding economically.

"Consequently, over time a larger and larger portion of our economic gain is being eroded by disasters, often with particular detriment to the poorest members of society."

The report shows how this trend can be reversed. It shows how national and sub-national governments can develop and implement a comprehensive disaster risk financing strategy to reduce risk and provide adequate and timely post-disaster support to strengthen financial resilience.

Moody's unfazed by PTTEP plan

PTT Exploration and Production's plan to invest US$15 billion (about Bt450 billion) from 2013-17 does not spook Moody's Investors Service.

Though the sum is 24 per cent higher than PTTEP's earlier plan and higher than Moody's expectation, the rating agency remains comfortable with the amount.

"However, the higher capex programme can, as indicated, be accommodated within its rating headroom as PTTEP's successful $3 billion rights issuance in late 2012 to finance the acquisition of Cove Energy and future capex has improved the company's financial flexibility," Simon Wong, lead analyst for PTTEP, said last week.

The investment is aimed at maintaining production levels at existing projects and complete new projects, such as Montara and Zawtika, which target production in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The proceeds are also for increasing exploration in Southeast Asia and Africa and budgeting for higher capital costs, such as construction and drilling. PTTEP is under the target to double production to 600,000 barrels or equivalent (boe)/day by 2020 from the current 313,969 boe/day.

Moody's said operating margins are expected to decline over the medium term due to rising costs, delays in production start-ups and Moody's crude price assumption of $100 per barrel in 2013 and $95 per barrel in 2014.

TOT revenue hits Bt78 bn in 2012

TOT logged total revenue last year of Bt78.05 billion, up by Bt3.2 billion from a year earlier. Its net profit was Bt9.56 billion, up by Bt621 million from a year earlier.

TOT's board today will consider the salary hike requested by the labour union, which views that the state enterprise's revenue performance improved last year.