TRADE FAIRS SET FOR
THOUSANDS OF OUTLETS
The Commerce Ministry will join hands with modern retailers and wholesalers and local retailers to conduct trade fairs at more than 13,500 outlets nationwide in a bid to stimulate spending at the end of the year.
Retailers and wholesalers will offer discounts from 20-80 per cent for consumers at shops around the country.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said that the ministry will also ask for traders to set up special booths to sell Thai rice and provide other space for selling rice.
The grand-sale event will be held in December and is expected to generate sales of at least Bt50 billion.

THAI NIPPON RUBBER IPO
Thai Nippon Rubber Industry (TNR), one of the world’s largest condom producers, has set its initial public offering price at Bt16 a share for its trade debut on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on November 29.
TNR will offer 75 million IPO shares, or a 25 per cent stake of its registered capital, bertween Monday and Wednesday. Of the total, half will be offered by the company and the other half by its existing shareholders. Kasikorn Securities is the underwriter for the IPO.
The condom giant’s registered capital is Bt300 million, equivalent to 300 million common shares at a par of Bt1 apiece. Its paid-up capital is Bt262.50 million.
Amorn Dararatataroj, TNR’s chief executive officer, said the company’s two factories had a production capacity of 1.96 billion condoms per year.
It targets boosting its share to 35 per cent of total condom market in Thailand. During September 2014 to August 2015, its share was 20.6 per cent, he said.
For the first nine months of this year, TNR’s sales totalled Bt934.2 million, up Bt6.5 million on the same period last year. Its net profit was Bt158.1 million, up Bt1.2 million.

FITCH AFFIRMS ESSO RATING
Fitch Ratings (Thailand) has affirmed a national short-term rating on ESSO (Thailand) Pcl’s bills-of-exchange revolving programme of up to Bt12 billion at “F1(tha”’.
The maturity of each series of bills is no more than 270 days under the programme.
The rating reflects the continued strong financial support ESSO receives from its ultimate parent, Exxon Mobil Corporation.
Fitch said an increase of inter-company loans during high financial leverage and a weak operating performance in 2014 has supported ESSO’s liquidity and lowered its exposure to external debt obligations. The proportion of inter-group financing arrangements has remained high at 60-65 per cent, although the company’s overall debt and inter-company loans decreased in the first half of this year compared to 2015.