Krungthai-Axa Life Insurance this year is expected to be the first subsidiary of a state enterprise to seek a listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, as part of the bourse's goal of raising market capitalisation by Bt100 billion in 2010.
SET president Patareeya Benjapholchai yesterday said Krung Thai Bank, the parent company of Krungthai-Axa, plans to file the listing application. A few more subsidiaries of state enterprises also show listing potential, she said after a meeting with the State Enterprise Policy Committee.
She added that the discussion covered about 10 subsidiaries in all.
Patareeya is convinced the listing of these state-enterprise units will enable the exchange to achieve its Bt100-billion target for the year. The goal looks more achievable after the recent Bt45-billion listing of Indorama Ventures.
Though the market is volatile, the SET has maintained its target of Bt18.5 billion for daily turnover.
The president said the market's volatility was driven by investor concerns over the health of European banks. These concerns affect global bourses and investors should closely monitor the situation, she said.
On the question of Asean linkage for regional markets, it was decided at a meeting in Manila on Monday that the Thai and Malaysian exchanges would be the first to start cross-trading, in the first quarter of next year. A link would next be established between the Singaporean and Philippine bourses.
