The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index is expected to rebound to between 1,630 and 1,635 points on Wednesday amid easing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Krungsri Securities said.
It said rising oil prices would also help boost the index, especially energy shares.
“However, uncertainty over inflation and an economic slowdown due to the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict would pressure the index,” Krungsri Securities said.
It recommends the purchase of the following as an investment strategy:
• KBank, BBL, TTB, KTB and BLA, which would benefit from a rising US bond yield and news of a US interest rate hike.
• PSL and TTA, which would gain from the increasing freight rate.
• PTTEP, PTT, Top, SPRC, BCP, Banpu, UBE, TVO, Global and DoHome, which would benefit from a rise in commodity prices.
The SET Index closed at 1,619.10 on Tuesday, down 7.6 points or 0.47 per cent. Transactions totalled 149.93 billion baht.
The value of Thai exports has risen by more than 200 per cent in the second month since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect, with total exports of Bt1.165 billion in the first two months.
Pitak Udomwichaiwat, director-general at the Department of Foreign Trade, said the value was estimated from applications by exporters seeking to exercise their rights under the RCEP agreement.
From January 1, when the RCEP agreement took effect, until February 28, Thai exporters had sought certificate of the country of origin for RCEP exports valued at a total of Bt1.165 billion.
Pitak said exporters sought the certificate for RCEP exports worth Bt277.84 million in January, but the amount rose to Bt887.67 million in February.
The biggest value of Thai exports for which the certificate was sought under RCEP was to Japan, totalling Bt540.36 million.
Most of the exported goods were canned fish, followed by canned vegetables and textiles.
China was the second highest importer of Thai goods under RCEP at Bt453.95 million and South Korea was third with export value of Bt171.21 million.
Pitak said vegetables and fruit were the biggest category of goods that Thai exporters sought the certificate of origin for under the RCEP agreement, followed by tapioca, longan, durian and coconuts.
He said Thai exporters mostly exported airbags and inflating kits and motorcycles to South Korea.
Pitak noted that Thai exporters already enjoyed tax privileges under other FTA agreements but they were opting to tap the RCEP agreement because it is much easier for them to get the certificate of origin.
Pitak added that Thai exporters can also register with the Department of Foreign Trade to be able to issue their own certificate under the Self-Declaration by Approved Exporters system.
American fast-food chain A&W, which is known for its frosty mugs of root beer and waffles, is planning to close all its branches in Thailand after suffering huge losses since the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asource said Global Consumer Plc, which owns the franchise in Thailand, is in the process of seeking approval from its board of directors to close all 26 branches of the fast-food chain.
The source said A&W has been suffering losses from the many lockdowns and changing behaviour of consumers. Most A&W branches are inside shopping malls, which were closed for long periods due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, another source said three big food chains are in talks with Global Consumer about the purchase of the A&W franchise. The source added that this deal may be worth around 500 million baht and could be concluded within this month.
According to Global Consumer’s annual report, A&W outlets in Thailand suffered losses of more than 70 million baht in 2021 alone.
A&W first started off in 1919 as a roadside shack in Lodi, California before it was transformed into a restaurant in 1923. The first branch was opened in Sacramento and evolved into a franchise in 1926. It now has nearly 1,000 branches across the world. The first A&W outlet in Thailand was opened in the Central Ladprao shopping mall in 1983.
The Global Consumer board has also approved the sale of the two remaining outlets of Kitchen Plus Restaurant and Coffee Corner due to cumulative losses.
In 2021, Global Consumer generated about 1.86 billion baht in revenue. Its main source of income is packaging goods and processed foods.
Demand for electric vehicles in Thailand will strengthen over the next two years before surging in 2024, according to a KResearch survey.
The research arm of Krungsri Bank surveyed 818 vehicle owners from November 10 to 30 last year. About 64 per cent of respondents were male and almost all were aged 35 to 54.
The survey showed demand for EVs is likely to pick up through 2022 and 2023, though sales will be concentrated in the mid-to-upper price range, KResearch said.
However, demand will accelerate in 2024 and as market focus shifts to smaller, more affordable vehicles.
Electric vehicle owners in the survey cited lower running costs (81 per cent), reduced environmental impacts (73 per cent), and technological appeal (59 per cent) as the three biggest reasons for buying EVs.
Branding and non-financial benefits such as access to special EV parking facilities did not appear to influence purchasing decisions.
For non-EV owners, the most commonly given reasons for not buying an EV were related to charging. The biggest deterrents were the limited number of charging stations, low range, the high purchase price of EVs compared to conventional vehicles, and slow charging speeds.
Eighty-three per cent of respondents expected to buy a vehicle within the next five years, citing the age of their current vehicle and desire to upgrade.
The 17 per cent who did not expect to buy a vehicle in the next 5 years said their vehicle was not old enough to need replacing and that EVs were too expensive.
Respondents were most interested in smaller EVs priced Bt750,000-1 million with a range in excess of 500 kilometres, service costs below 1 per cent of the ticket price, and charging times of 15-30 minutes per 100 kilometres, Krungsri Research said.
Meanwhile, 88 per cent said they would charge their EV at home, 50.4 per cent would use service stations, and 30.5 per cent would use department-store charging stations.
Survey respondents identified nine factors affecting their decision to buy an EV:
– Age of current vehicle
– Number of vehicles currently owned by the family
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index is expected to fall to between 1,615 and 1,620 points on Tuesday amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, Krungsri Securities said. The SET slide is expected to decelerate after falling more than 45 points on Monday.
Krungsri Securities said the index would be under pressure from stagflation due to the push for a ban on Russian oil.
“However, the rising oil price would help boost the index, especially energy shares,” it added.
It recommends the purchase of the following as an investment strategy:
• PTTEP, PTT, TOP, SPRC, BCP and BANPU will benefit from the rising price of oil, coal and gross refining margin.
• APURE, SUN, TVO, TWPC, UBE, PERM, GLOBAL and DOHOME will benefit from rising commodity prices.
• PSL and TTA will benefit from the rising freight rate.
The SET Index closed at 1,626.70 on Monday, down 45.02 points or 2.69 per cent. Transactions totalled 127.03 billion baht.
The baht opened at 33.05 to the US dollar on Tuesday, weakening from Monday’s close of 33.00 to its lowest point in a month.
Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool forecast the Thai currency would move between 32.85 and 33.10 during the day.
Poon said the baht’s sudden weakening on Monday will slow after passing the resistance level at 33 to the dollar.
However, the baht might weaken further if the market maintains a risk-off state and foreign investors sell more Thai assets.
Meanwhile, the baht might be supported by gold-selling if the Ukraine-Russia conflict eases, so investors should monitor peace negotiations, Poon said.
He expected exporters to sell dollars when the baht reaches the key resistance level at 33.20.\
He expected a key support level of 32.50, at which point importers would buy the dollar.
The Russia-Ukraine war was encouraging a risk-off state, which means markets will remain volatile. Poon said business operators should use hedging tools such as options to manage risk.
Gala Games is a Game-Fi platform running on a decentralised ecosystem that allows developers to create games on their own platforms. Gala Games also has stores for trading NFTs in each game through Gala coins.
Gala Games, a leader in the blockchain gaming platform that provides gamers with a truly immersive experience, is fast taking a foothold in Thailand with its “fun first” concept. Games created by this provider allow gamers to actually own the items in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT). Gala Games was created in 2019 by Eric Schiermeyer, a co-founder of major games developer Zynga. Currently, Gala Games has more than 1.3 million users per month. Apart from developing a blockchain-based gaming platform and NFT-focused games, Gala Games has also launched “Gala Music”, a platform that serves as a window of opportunity for music lovers to participate in the new music-focused NFT.
The ‘fun first’ concept Gala Games is a Game-Fi platform running on a decentralised ecosystem that allows developers to create games on their own platforms. Gala Games also has stores for trading NFTs in each game through Gala coins. The most outstanding feature of Gala Games is that the company has a team of experienced executives, game developers and experts with the central goal of levelling up the blockchain-based gaming experience to a new peak with an elevated gaming potential. Developers at Gala Games have given the highest priority to an exceptional gaming experience for all gamers. Gala Games has never placed importance on investment, profitability or speculation, but focuses on delivering an enhanced gaming experience with excitement and fun its top priority. At present, Gala Games has plenty of games in different types across multiple genres and categories, including the “Town Star” game developed by Gala Games’ developers. It is a town and urban life builder game.
Gala Games also has “Mirandus”, an online role-playing game (RPG) that takes all gamers to the fantasy world. There is also a range of survival games such as “The Walking Dead: Empires” developed by games developers of Ember Entertainment. “The Legacy” is a business strategy simulation game developed by the 22cans team, while the “Legends Reborn” is a strategic card game developed by the same team that created the “Kung Fu Factory”. Gala Games also has a wide variety of thought-provoking games to provide the ultimate fun and exciting gaming experience.
Gala Music teams up with top artistes Gala Games launched the Gala Music platform that will phenomenally transform the music landscape and shape the future of music appreciation by developing solutions to reward artists, musicians, musical composers, and relevant stakeholders in the industry. Gala Music is where fans can share the musical achievements of their most-loved artists and musicians with other people. Musicians can generate income from Gala Music after fans listen to their music via the platform in the future. Moreover, Gala Music teamed up with hip-hop king Snoop Dogg to release a new NFT-based album, exclusively featuring three bonus tracks. The new album under the NFT label is available for purchase via the Gala Music platform only. Gala Music also collaborated with a score of famous musicians such as Steve Aoki, BT, H.E.R., 3LAU, Kings of Leon and Bassjackers. NFT holders have special privileges and will be given exclusive access to their favourite artists and musicians. Special privileges include the NFT Exclusive Drop, in which NFT holders can receive items like photos, characters, movies and much more as well as other privileges from the “Listen to Earn” system. When NFT holders listen to their favourite music, they will receive rewards and other benefits in the form of coins, meaning that musicians do not only earn money from the platform, their fans also receive rewards after listening to their favourite music. More importantly, “The Orbs”, the world’s first series of fully generative music and art NFTs, can create unique visual art installation and music NFTs. The generative audio and visual art NFTs created by The Orbs are distinctive and remarkable and there is only one in the world. The Orbs can bring a new phenomenon into the music industry. Getting to know the Gala coin The Gala coin works on the blockchain-based Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) platforms. In the future, Gala will be developing its own blockchain platform to better suit the gaming ecosystem. Trading of Gala coins kicked off in September 2020 and was listed on the world’s top cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, Huobi and KuCoin. In Thailand, trading of Gala coins can be done via Bitkub and Zipmex. Online channels to stay in touch with Gala Games are: Website: https://www.gala.games/ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/GoGalaGames Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoGalaGames YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GalaGames Discord: https://galagames.chat/
Nation Group announced on Friday that it is restructuring to synergise management in all sectors and maximise content production in line with its “One Nation” strategy.
Under the new set-up, Nation Group will be at the top of the management tree with media outlets like Krungthep Turakij, Spring News, Khobsanam, Thainews, OK Nation, The People, Nation TV, The Nation, and Kom Chad Luek underneath it.
With this new hierarchy, each media outlet will be managed by its own editorial team and generate revenue on its own.
“Each media outlet’s editorial team will manage content, news and facts for readers. These teams are like kitchens – free to produce and provide content and news for consumers,” Nation Group’s chief executive Shine Bunnag explained.
This restructuring will also help reduce the group’s expenses and management burden, he added.
Nation News Agency (NNA) has also been revived to produce content and support other media outlets working on three key platforms – online, TV and print. Outside the three main platforms, there are also out-of-home media and on-ground events.
The group will also adapt to boost its digital performance, starting with the issuing of digital tokens. Nation Group has appointed Future Competere, which has expertise in issuing tokens and blockchain technology, as an adviser for the transformation.
“The organisation has invaluable content and old images that can be converted into non-fungible tokens [NFTs],” Shine said.
Nation Group is also shifting its focus to documentaries as part of its new business model. Shine said all content produced by the organisation’s media outlets should be beneficial and utilised for analysis, business operation and daily life.
“If we produce content that is like poisoned fruit … it will distort society,” he said, adding that Nation Group will continue lifting the lid on controversies, especially corruption.
He added that 2022 will be a year of synergising for the group, while 2023 will become the year of moving forward.
“We must all hold hands tightly to create maximum unity and synergy. Once the rope is tightly woven, it will automatically strengthen the organisation,” he said.
Nation Group is expected to generate good profits and turnover for shareholders and create sustainability for employees across the network.
Though the media organisation has not been quick in transforming itself for the digital era, its focus has always been on premium content, he said.
“Nation Group has been part of Thai society for more than 50 years and we have always adhered to the ideology of being a media outlet that focuses on the code of ethics and quality. This is the path we have always adhered to and always will,” he said.
To advance its One Nation strategy, Nation Group announced the purchase of Nation TV 22 and Kom Chad Luek worth Bt461 million in total, and the sale of 691 million shares or 61 per cent of Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) to Boonuea Chitthanom and Natthaphong Sitaworarat at Bt1.30 per share in a deal worth Bt898.3 million. Boonuea and Natthaphong are major shareholders of One to One Contacts Plc.
Gold prices rode a new high on the back of the Russia-Ukraine war with gold shops selling a baht weight of gold bar at Bt30,600 on Monday.
The selling price of gold bars closed at THB30,600, while the purchase price for one baht weight (15.244 grams) was THB30,500, the Gold Traders Association said.
Jitti Tungsitphakdee, president of the Chin Hua Heng Goldsmiths and chairman of the Gold Traders Association, said the prices of gold bars had risen by THB2,000 from the prices during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
The buying price of gold ornaments weighing one baht closed at Bt29,956.16, while the selling price was Bt31,100.
Prices jumped by THB350 from the previous trading day.
Jitti said if the war continues, the price of gold is expected to keep rising.
He said his shop had arranged about Bt100 million in cash for buying gold from customers.
He, however, added that the queues in front of gold shops were not as long as when the Covid-19 crisis started two years ago.
He explained that gold prices had been increasing since the Chinese New Year Festival. Many people had been selling their gold since then, therefore there were not too many people coming to the shops to sell gold now.
He said most sellers were now speculators, in a bid to make a quick profit.
About 45 per cent of hotels that are still running have just about enough funds to last for three months, a recent survey found.
The survey was carried out on 142 hotels, including those serving as alternative quarantine sites and hospitels, by the Thai Hotels Association in February.
The association’s chairperson, Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, said on Monday that the survey also revealed that 51 per cent of the hotels had suffered a drop in revenue from the previous month. Meanwhile, 49 per cent of the hotels were only able to make 30 per cent of the revenue they had earned before the Covid-19 pandemic. This was the same percentage found in the January survey, Marisa said.
Only 19 per cent of the hotels are now earning half of the revenue they earned before the Covid crisis hit Thailand’s tourism industry, she said, adding that these hotels enjoyed about 40 per cent occupancy last month.
Marisa said room occupancy rates in February rose thanks to the government’s tourism promotion subsidies and also because it resumed the Test & Go scheme at the beginning of the month.
However, she said, there is still a scarcity of foreign tourists compared to pre-Covid times because many foreigners are staying away over fears of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant and the high cost of the mandatory RT-PCR tests.
She said the percentage of hotels operating at a normal level in February was 72 per cent, down from 73 per cent in January.
Marisa added that 3 per cent of hotels in Thailand were still closed in February and that these hotels had been closed for more than six months. However, she added, they should reopen in the second quarter of this year.
The survey also found that only 59.8 per cent of the hotel workforce had returned to the industry.
Pitak noted that Thai exporters already enjoyed tax privileges under other FTA agreements but they were opting to tap the RCEP agreement because it is much easier for them to get the certificate of origin.
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