Brokerage house aims to cash in on Indochina market

KT Zmico Co is positioning itself as the gateway to Indochina while studying investment opportunities in Burma, which is expected to see high economic growth in the future.

The brokerage house targets this year's market share at 5 per cent, compared to last year's 4 per cent.

Of total customers, 80 per cent are retail investors and the remaining 20 per cent are institutional investors.

Chaipatr Srivisarvacha, KT Zmico's chief executive officer, said the company would seek growth within the country and overseas.

The brokerage house is positioning itself as the gateway to accommodate customers to invest in Indochina, he said. It holds a 20-per-cent stake in a brokerage company in Vietnam and a 30-per-cent stake in another firm in Laos. The company expects to finalise its investment plan in Burma in the first half of 2012.

Although the brokerage business has not boomed yet in Indochina, KT Zmico may reap the benefits from its financial advisory business due to the fund-raising needs, and mergers and acquisition deals. This is particularly in Vietnam, which is facing economic problems. Currently, there are three ongoing deals.

"The recent opening-up of Burma will bring growth to its economy and many business opportunities. In the initial stages, we will invest in investment banking," Chaipatr said.

Domestically, KT Zmico will focus on expanding its customer base in the brokerage business after merging with KTB Securities, a subsidiary of Krung Thai Bank, which now holds a 50-per-cent stake in KT Zmico.

This year, KT Zmico expects to increase its trading accounts to 10,000 from last year's 5,000-6,000 due mainly to the deposit protection by the Deposit Protection Agency falling to no more than Bt1 million from August 1, 2012.

"This year, there may be 4,000 more accounts from KTB as a number of depositors like stock trading," Chaipatr said.