SCG earmarks upto Bt200bn for regional expansion

The board of Siam Cement Group has approved investments of Bt150 billion to Bt200 billion from 2013-2017 focusing on the Asean market, especially Myanmar and Indonesia, the company's president and chief executive officer said yesterday.

Kan Trakulhoon said the investment plan also covered Thailand and could involve expansion of production capacity or takeover of related businesses here and in other Asean countries.

"Our initial five-year investment budget is Bt150 billion, but if the ventures need funding in excess of that, we will increase our budget to Bt200 billion," he said.

In Myanmar, the company is submitting its plan to the government and investment may kick off next year, he added.

Earlier, the company spent its US$4.5-billion (Bt135 billion) budget on its petrochemical complex in Vietnam, Bt10 billion to set up a cement plant with an output of 1.7 million to 1.8 million tonnes a year in Myanmar, and a cement plant with 1.9 million tonnes' output annually in Indonesia.

In the Indonesian deal, it will acquire a stake of 30.01-33.40 per cent in Siam Global House, which would require a budget of about Bt10 billion.

"We plan to take over another company in an Asean country in the last quarter of this year," he said. He declined to disclose details of the new deal, for which negotiations are taking place.

Although the company is expanding investment aggressively this year and over the next five years, Kan said its financial health remained strong because of Bt40-billion cash flow while total debt was only Bt120 billion. This compares with its total assets worth Bt384.11 billion and total equity of Bt136.25 billion.

"When we decided to expand investment, we were concerned about business risks, especially the impact from the European crisis and China's economy," he said.