briefs

CPF aims to double sales

Charoen Pokphand Foods' sales jumped 73 per cent to Bt357.175 billion and net profit surged 17 per cent to Bt18.79 billion last year, with a dividend payment for the second half of 2012 set at 50 satang per share.

CPF targets annual sales of Bt700 billion within five years, double last year's figure. It aims for average growth of 10-15 per cent per year driven mainly by business in emerging markets and food businesses, Adirek Sripratak, president and chief executive officer, said yesterday.

He added that the company not only had faced the volatility in the world economy and those in many countries, but there were many external factors that challenged the agri-industrial and food businesses last year. These factors resulted in a meat oversupply, causing prices to drop significantly since the beginning of 2012.

In addition, rising prices of raw materials for animal feed resulting from the drought in the United States in the late third quarter led to higher production costs for meat.

The CPF board of directors approved a dividend payment for the second half of 2012 at Bt0.50 per share. An interim dividend was paid in September at Bt0.60 per share.

Paint firm eyes Bt1.5 bn sales

Captain Coating targets sales of Bt1.5 billion this year, up 30 per cent from 2012, aiming to be among Thailand's top five paint companies while focusing on products for old houses and strengthening distribution.

Jatuphat Tangkaravakoon, deputy chairman of the TOA Group, parent company of TOA Paint, said that over two years of being under the umbrella of TOA, Captain Paint had focused on management restructuring while setting its business direction through a "5S strategy". This means supreme quality - developing quality products for higher standards; sales - building a sales team to take care of shops continuously to meet the needs of partners in a timely manner.

Toyo-Thai contract

Toyo-Thai Corporation has received a consortium contract worth between US$60 million and $70 million (Bt1.8 billion to Bt2.1 billion) to construct a chemical plant in Thailand. However, the company declined to disclose details on the project or the owner's name. The project's construction period is 26 months.

Three-way JV for hydropower plant

Egat International, KPIC Netherlands and Lao Holding State Enterprise have set up a 30:45:25 joint venture called Nam Ngiep 1 Power to develop a Bt27-billion power plant.

The 289-megawatt Nam Ngiep 1 hydropower plant is scheduled to start supplying the system in 2019.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand in 2009 assigned its subsidiary to develop the project with Japan-based Kansai Electric Power Co, the parent of KPIC.



New auto record

The automobile industry set another record month of sales in January, with 125,817 vehicles bought, according to Toyota Motor Thailand.

That was a 63.4-per-cent increase from the same month last year. Driving it was the delivery of units bought under the first-car-buyer scheme, which boosted passenger-car sales by 108.6 per cent to 59,872 units.

Overall, the huge increase was attributable to the low base following the 2011 floods.

Vudhigorn Suriyachant-ananont, senior vice president, said yesterday that sales would keep growing this month because of first-car deliveries and demand.



SAS cancels route

Scandinavian Airlines from April 1 will stop regular flights to Thailand, after 64 years of uninterrupted service. The move will lead to the lay-off of 30 employees.

"It is a consequence of a traffic conversion, where we instead use the aircraft on a new route to San Francisco and two daily flights from Copenhagen in the summer. We are seeking a solution with [an agent] in Thailand for sales for winter traffic," it said.