Ch Karnchang eyes 2013 revenue of Bt25 bn, targets new record next year

Construction firm Ch Karnchang expects revenue of at least Bt25 billion this year, while that of 2014 is expected to break its 1997 record of Bt27 billion.

Chief executive officer Plew Trivisvavet said the company expected last year's revenue to come in at Bt18 billion.

The company is waiting to sign new construction deals worth Bt30 billion, which will boost its backlog value to Bt150 billion versus Bt120 billion last year. It still has capacity to handle an additional Bt40 billion worth of projects.

Ch Karnchang is upbeat about the next five years, during which it is confident of clinching new contracts worth between Bt60 billion and Bt70 billion each year from government mega-projects, ranging from water management to infrastructure. It is also keen to pitch for deals in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Ch Karnchang aims to become Asean's leading construction firm. Of total revenue, 60 per cent is contributed by the local market.

Ch Karnchang filed to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday that shareholders had resolved that the company sell 438,900,000 shares in Thai Tap Water Supply to Bangkok Expressway at Bt7.55 per share, amounting to Bt3.3 billion. The company will receive the total payment by April 2015. Of the total, Bt2 billion will be for debt repayment and the remainder for capital flow. After the transaction, its shareholding in Thai Tap will be reduced to around 19 per cent.

The transaction will also lower its debt-to-equity ratio to 1.33 times from 2.64 times. The company will try to keep the ratio to 2 times to maintain low financing costs.