BTS Skytrain fares up from June — Fares will be raised on the BTS skytrain’s core 23.5-kilometre routes with effect on June 1, Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC) announced on Monday. Current fares range between 15 and 40 baht on the original routes from Mor Chit to On Nut and from the National Stadium […]
Read More →We’ve longed thought aloud that the Thai Baht should eventually return to THB 25/usd over the past few years and we continue to think this going forward. Yes people yell at us, “charlatan! fools! It will never go back!” and we’ve been hearing the same comments since we begun working here in 2004-5 when the […]
Read More →So the essentials of the deal are as follows: CPALL agreed with MAKRO’s major shareholder, SHV Nederland B.V., to acquire its 64.35% (154.4m shares) in Makro @ THB 787/share. Funding is 90% debt financing, 10% internal CF, no equity capital call. Purchase price of MAKRO is @ 42.9x of 2013F (as per analyst’s estimates) Debt […]
Read More →Positives Global Europe: Germany raises growth forecast — The German economy is expected to grow by 0.5% this year, up from the previous estimate of 0.4%, the German Economics Ministry announced on Thursday. German GDP is still expected to grow 1.6% in 2014, unchanged from previous growth prediction. (Xinhua, 25/04/13) US: In the week ending […]
Read More →MAKRO SET to probe Siam Makro trades —The SET will investigate trading that preceded the announcement of the country’s largest takeover bid, the purchase of discount wholesaler Siam Makro Plc (MAKRO) by 7-Eleven chain operator CP All Plc (CPALL). Siam Makro’s shares rose 30% in the six trading sessions before CP All’s US$6.6bn bid was […]
Read More →BGH BGH plans hospital in Chinatown — Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Plc (BGH), Thailand’s largest hospital group, is to invest 700-750 million baht to set up a new hospital in Bangkok’s Chinatown aiming to tap into affluent ethnic Chinese and Indian residents. The investment includes 30-year rental and renovation costs for two old buildings, one […]
Read More →BBL BBL gets into auto lending with specific loans for first car buyers — Even though Bangkok Bank is not ready to enter the hire-purchase (lease-to-own) business, it has developed a product called Bualuang Poonphol for First Car to help it become more familiar with the car-loan market. “We are learning about the auto-loan market […]
Read More →BTS Interim DPS at Bt0.18 from 3QFY13 earnings — After an initial DPS of Bt0.163/share on earnings in Apr-Sep 12 (1HQFY13), BTS announced a second interim DPS of Bt0.18 (XD on May 2), based on earnings in Oct-Dec 12 (3QFY13). Comment. Only an interim dividend, analysts have been saying that a special divvy may be […]
Read More →BTS First trading day for BTSGIF— The infrastructure fund begins trading today, April 19. Comment: well this was the easiest trade this year, I don’t expect that much more upside in the stock, unless they come out with a massive dividend. TRUE TrueVisions screens turn blank Friday morning — TrueVisions screens will turn blank on […]
Read More →KTB changes tack to focus on fees — State-owned Krungthai Bank (KTB) is focusing more on high-yielding retail banking and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans in order to boost non-interest income, underscoring the fierce competition in these segments among big banks. Thailand’s second-largest lender by assets targets retail and SME loans of 60% of […]
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