The debenture will replace an existing one that will expire this year and offer interest rates between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent depending on the debenture period of three or five years, chief operating officer Wanchak Buranasiri added.

After issuing the debenture, the company will reduce its average interest cost from 5 per cent now to 4 per cent. This will be better for its financial results this year, he said.

The rest of the investment budget will come from the company’s internal cash flow, Wanchak said.

Meanwhile, Srettha told a news conference yesterday on the company’s 2016 business plan that it expected to launch 21 new residential projects worth Bt50.5 billion, comprising 11 condominiums, seven detached-housing projects, and three townhouse developments.

Six of the 11 new condominium projects, worth Bt23 billion, will be developed by its joint venture with BTS Group Holdings, and Sansiri will develop the other five itself.

The company expects total presales this year of Bt42 billion, up 47 per cent from last year’s Bt28.5 billion, with total revenue of Bt36 billion for 2016.

It targets up to Bt5 billion of its presales this year from foreigners buying homes in Thailand, mostly from Asia, such as Singapore, Japan, mainland China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. However, it also hopes for buyers from Europe and the United States.

Last year, the company recorded Bt3.5 billion in presales from foreign customers, Srettha said.

“Our total revenue this year will be lower than last year, which may be Bt38 billion, though we are waiting for the final audit. Last year the company received special income from the sale of its land to a joint venture with BTS Group Holdings. This generated income of about Bt800 million,” he said.

Sansiri targets strong growth in presales this year as it sees demand continuing to grow, especially in the premium market. As a result, the company has opened for presales its ready-to-stay luxury condominium 98 Wireless, worth Bt8 billion. It has already sold 20 of its 77 units.

The project’s highest price is Bt630,000 per square metre for the penthouse unit. The average price is Bt550,000 per square metre, expensive for Bangkok’s central business districts at this time.

The project’s interior is by US designer Ralph Lauren. The next luxury condominium project Sansiri will launch this year will feature interiors by French designer Philippe Starck, Srettha said.

Most people in the premium residential market pay cash, so the company has a low mortgage-rejection rate compared with the overall market. Sansiri’s rejection rate was only 7 per cent last year, he said.

At present, 46 per cent of its total sales are from the premium market with prices over Bt10 million per unit. The medium price range between Bt5 million and Bt10 million per unit accounts for about 41 per cent, with the remaining 13 per cent from the “affordable” market.

Despite intense competition, Panasonic AP Sales (Thailand) raised sales by 10 per cent to Bt10.6 billion last year, and expects to maintain the same tempo this year, managing director Takeshi Nomoto said yesterday.

A major driver will be air-conditioners, especially room A/Cs.

The company has set a challenging target of 20-per-cent growth this year, on top of 40 per cent last year, when its Thai sales were the fastest-growing in the region.

But Dai Nishi, general manager for the Marketing 1 Department (A/Cs, water heaters and B2B) at Panasonic AP Sales (Thailand) said: “We are not satisfied yet. We see big room to expand our sales in the Thai market. We’re still No 4, even with the big growth last year.”

Room A/Cs account for about 90 per cent of the overall air-conditioning market in Thailand, which grew by 5 per cent last year.

Mitsubishi Electric is No 1, followed by Samsung, Daikin, Panasonic and LG.

Panasonic says it will achieve its ambitious sales target for room A/Cs by instituting three changes.

The product line-up will experience a full model change with higher energy-efficiency rates, and theArrowings feature will be expanded to all products, not just the premium models.

The advertising budget will be boosted by 2.5 times from last year to Bt100 million to communicate its new products to consumers.

Marketing activities will include a caravan tour by its 7.3-metre-long container trucks at 30 major locations nationwide.

A/Cs contribute 35 per cent of Panasonic AP’s sales in Thailand, followed by 20 per cent from refrigerators and 10 per cent from washing machines. The company aims to grow its refrigerator sales by 9 per cent and washing machines by 4 per cent here. It ranks fourth in both the refrigerator and washing-machine markets.

Panasonic aims to move up to the No 2 spot in Thailand for both refrigerators and A/Cs and No 3 for washing machines by 2018, and to conquer the top position in the refrigerator market here by 2020.

The company has earmarked Bt200 million for advertising of all products this year. It expects the Bt61-billion home-appliance market to expand by 5 per cent, up from 2-3 per cent in 2015.

The challenges for Panasonic in marketing its A/Cs this year include completing the total model change, communicating the unique features of its new Sky Series and strengthening its modern-trade and speciality-shop channels.

Of its room A/C sales this year, 35 per cent are expected via its home-appliance dealers, 30 per cent through A/C speciality shops, 25 per cent through modern-trade outlets and the last 10 per cent through project sales channels.

The company also plans to open new seafood-processing plants in neighbouring AEC countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam.

The AEC market currently contributes about Bt700 million in annual export value to the company.

Thawee Piyapatana, chairman of PFP Group, said the company was quite confident in the measures and policies being undertaken by the government to recover the economy.

“Based on changes of consumer behaviour towards seeking ease of access and convenience in their choice of food as well as advertisements nowadays about prioritising one’s health and safety, PFP has continuously developed new products to serve such changing behaviour.

“PFP products are made from ground fish that has been processed by using the most advanced technology in the food-science field with modern machinery and equipment – always keeping quality and the safety of consumers in mind.

“We have plans to expand all distribution channels to serve the increasing number of consumers both within the country and overseas, including tourists and investors who are part of the urbanisation process within the AEC group, as well as to serve the increasing Muslim population.

“All PFP products have been granted halal certification by the Central Islamic [Committee] of Thailand, thus maintaining the customer base and expansion of the halal market in accordance with … the aim of raising Thailand’s position to be among the world’s top five halal food exporters within five years,” Thawee said.

PFP products are divided into seven groups: imitation crab-stick group; fish-tofu group; breaded group; fish-ball group; fancy group; other product groups such as barbecue shrimp; and fish and mushroom buns.

PFP exports many products such as fish fusion, Thai fish cake and fish balls to more than 21 countries worldwide including South Korea, China, the Netherlands, Italy, the United States, Australia and New Zealand as well as AEC countries Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. “We are the first company in the frozen-processed-seafood industry to export products to the CLMV,” he said, referring to the sub-region that comprises Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Thawatchai Ratanapisit, executive director of the PFP Group, disclosed that it planned additional expansion through various channels including modern trade, hotels, restaurants and catering.

For overseas markets, the company has three distribution channels: supermarkets, restaurants, and importers in more than 21 countries. It continuously penetrates into new markets such as the CMLV group and the Middle East.

“PFP plans to introduce new products that have undergone a research and development process to serve the expanding health-food market to cater to the modern lifestyles of consumers. We have a dedicated R&D team who continue to research and develop quality and nutritious products on a par with international standards as well as make adaptations to suit all target groups in every corner of the world.

“Moreover, we plan to manufacture retort products that would no longer require refrigeration,” he said. Retort pouches allow sterile packaging of foods.