Briefs

Denso plans Bt4 bn investment

Denso International Asia is pouring Bt4 billion over five years into Thailand as part of its expansion in ASEAN to serve increasing demand from the region's automobile industries.

President Shigehiro Nishimura said yesterday that plants are also planned for Myanmar and Indonesia to supply parts for plants in Thailand, which will focus on value-added products.

In Thailand, Bt400 million will finance the expansion of the plant at the Well Grow Industrial Estate and the rest for the Amata Nakorn plant, which will accommodate the relocation of the production of common rail engines from Japan.

CPF's carbon footprint project

Charoen Pokphand Foods has kicked off a carbon footprint project and various measures to manage greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption.

CPF and its parent, Charoen Pokphand Group, produce 133 items for domestic and international markets.

Kularb Kimsri, assistant vice president of CPF's global standard system centre, said yesterday that the project is among CPF's undertakings on environmental management and conservation of natural resources.

"CPF has developed its own internal resources, including employees who have now achieved TGO-certification as carbon footprint auditors, and advanced life-cycle assessment software that allows the transparent, accurate and reliable calculation of greenhouse gas emissions which can also be audited," he said.

Loans for farmers hit by drought

The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives has prepared Bt5 billion to be lent to drought-hit farmers.

The BAAC will extend the loan payment period for another year specifically for farmers whose crops have been more than 50 per cent destroyed by the drought. More than 100,000 households with one million rai of farmland in 37 provinces are seriously impacted by the drought.

Agriculture index takes a drop

The agricultural price index last month dropped by 4.27 per cent year on year mainly because of falling prices of rubber and oil palm.

Apichart Jongskul, secretary-general of the Agricultural Economics Office, said rubber and oil palm prices were pressured by higher output from February in 2012 against lower demand from major buyers in China, the US, Japan and the EU. - The Nation

Higher incomes expected to boost Group Lease business

Group Lease, which finances motorcycle purchases, will focus |more on the domestic market in response to Thais' higher purchasing power, said chairman and chief executive officer Mitsuji Kinoshita.

The company targets new loans of Bt4.8 billion this year, up from Bt3.3 billion in 2012.

He said the lending growth would be supported by the higher minimum wage and increased prices of agricultural products.

Overseas, GL has a strong network in Cambodia, where it will increase its outlets to 36 from 11. As a result, by the third quarter it should be financing 2,000 motorcycles per month, up from 200 per month currently.

Furniture fair starts

The Department of International Trade Promotion has once again joined forces with the Thai Furniture Industries Association and the Thai Furniture Industry Club of the Federation of Thai Industries in organising the Thailand International Furniture Fair.

The event will feature more than 167 top furniture makers from Thailand and overseas in 724 booths. TIFF 2013 started yesterday and will run until Sunday at Impact Muang Thong Thani.

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom said: "After coping with a series of natural disasters and the euro-zone economic downturn in the previous year, in 2013 the exports of furniture and furniture parts from Thailand are expected to have a bright future, with an expected total export value of US$1.12 billion [Bt33.2 billion]. And undoubtedly, TIFF 2013 will play a key role in helping us achieve that goal."

Eastcoast Furnitech IPO

Eastcoast Furnitech will launch an initial public offering of 120 million ordinary shares at Bt1.20 per share tomorrow and from March 18-19.

The company is expected to start trading in the Market for Alternative Investment on March 26. Of total shares, 30 million will be allocated to beneficiary persons and the rest to the public.

The proceeds from the IPO will be used to expand its production capacity to serve demand of local and overseas customers. The company targets revenue of at least Bt1.25 billion this year, up 17 per cent from 2012.

Condos for new grads

Grand Unity Development has announced the launch of new condominium projects under the Condo U brand at prices slightly over Bt1 million to target new graduates aged between 22 and 25 who have changed their attitude towards buying their own homes.

Managing director Neramit Srangiam said many young working people had shifted their attitude to be more in favour of buying homes rather than vehicles, especially condominiums near mass-transit routes.

"We will invest more than Bt5 billion this year on five new residential projects, of which 60 per cent will be allocated to the Condo U condominiums, which will be priced between Bt1.3 million and Bt1.8 million per unit," he said. "The other 40 per cent will be for our U Delight condominiums, which target more premium customers at prices between Bt1.8 million and Bt2 million."

SET, brokers launch joint workshop for maiden investors

The Stock Exchange of Thailand has joined forces with 28 leading brokers to launch a campaign called "Your First Stock: Beginning with Equities and Investing with Quality" to give insights, intensive training, an exclusive workshop and other benefits to new investors throughout this year with the aim of boosting their numbers by 70,000.

The SET will also continue its "I'm Online Investor" project to keep expanding the online investor base.

This activity will use a computer program, Click2Win, to simulate investing in securities, including derivatives, via the Internet, thus building confidence in investing online. The SET expects to get 120,000 new online accounts via this project this year.

With the current bullish mood and promising sales and profits of listed companies, the SET has attracted significant numbers of investors with 40,000 new accounts, increasing since the beginning of this year.

Retail investors account for 62 per cent of total trading value of Bt57 billion on average, making the proportion the highest over the past five years.

The SET and its partners have geared up to hold campaigns focusing on building investment skills for this key group of investors, SET president Charamporn Jotikasthira said yesterday.

"The SET has valued expanding into the quality investor base for long-term capital market development. The 'Your First Stock' campaign has been then launched under the concept 'Beginning with Equities and Investing with Quality' in order to help new investors start trading and to develop their investment skills systematically, supporting them to select and analyse stocks with quality."

Classic Gold Futures wins full TFEX membership

Classic Gold Futures, a precious-metal-related member, has won full-membership status from the Thailand Futures Exchange. The status allows the brokerage to trade all types of derivatives products on TFEX.

Kesara Manchusree, TFEX's managing director, said CGF was expanding its service to trade all derivative products. CGF has completely implemented a systems test, including in human-resource preparedness, risk management and trade services, to ensure it can provide full services.

Line Play tops Free App charts in wake of global realease

Line Play conquered the Top Free App charts immediately after global release in countries including Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia, serving 6 million users worldwide.

"While some enthusiastic users in Southeast Asia had accessed and experienced Line Play prior to its global launch, Line Play's rapid growth greatly exceeded our initial expectations," Jin-woo Lee, senior manager of Line's business office, said |yesterday.

"Through Line Play, we aim to take digital communications beyond just words on a screen to add a new dimension to Line's smartphone life platform."

Nippon Paint sees revenue hitting B2 billion this year

Nippon Paint Decorative Coatings (Thailand) targets revenue to grow more than 30 per cent to Bt2 billion this year.

General manager Chalermpong Mahavanidvong said this week that the company is continuing its highly successful "Smart Price" campaign.

The firm is also moving forward with a strong growth strategy driven by greater product variety for specific market segments, aiming to expand its high quality building paints products, both interior and exterior. It is also strengthening its relationship with its partners this year.

BJC board approves bid for majority stake in Thai An VN

Berli Jucker's board has approved the purchase by BJC International, a wholly owned subsidiary, of 39 million shares in Thai An Vietnam Joint Stock Co, which is equivalent to 65 per cent of Thai An's total issued and paid up shares.

The transaction value was 694.7 trillion dong (Bt989.96 million).

Sansiri raises first-quarter presales target to Bt21.5 bn

Sansiri has revised up its property presales target for this quarter from Bt20 billion to Bt21.5 billion. The company succeeded in booking high presales at Sansiri Life Comes Home 2013.

That boosted its presales in the first two months of this year to Bt17.8 billion, president Srettha Thavisin said.

AirAsia offers special fare to S'pore during school break

AirAsia invites families to fly to Singapore for the school break with a great promotion, offering seats starting at only Bt1,890 per way.

Bookings are available from today until March 18 for travel from March 25-May 31.