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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021222

THAI’s revised rehabilitation plan set for take-off after Bankruptcy Court nod

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022

The Central Bankruptcy Court on Thursday approved a request by Thai Airways International (THAI) to revise its rehabilitation plan as the national carrier begins to fly high this year on the wings of a fast recovery.

The court verdict came after most creditors of the financially troubled airline endorsed the revised plan, according to a THAI source.

At their recent meeting, 78.6 per cent of the creditors, including the Finance Ministry, voted to support THAI’s revised rehabilitation plan in the hopes that a quick recovery would make it possible for the airline to resume stock market trading by 2025, the source said.

THAI will next hire a financial adviser company to prepare for debt-to-equity swaps and a capital increase involving existing creditors and shareholders.

The revised plan calls for new funds of no more than 25 billion baht by 2024, instead of 50 billion as permitted by the court under the original restructuring plan.

After being mired in debt for years, the national carrier is now flying into a welcome cloud of recovery, with its average passenger load soaring to 80 per cent and cumulative cashflow of about 20 billion baht.

In July, THAI petitioned the Central Bankruptcy Court, seeking to revise its rehabilitation plan with the hopes of exiting the plan before the 2025 deadline.

The airline filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2019 after reporting massive debts of 245 billion baht. The Cabinet in May 2020 gave the rehabilitation plan the green light under the Bankruptcy Act, which was later approved by the Central Bankruptcy Court.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021220

OR teams up with GWM to install “EV Station PluZ I GWM” chargers at potential commercial areas outside of service stations

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022

THE NATION

Mr Suchat Ramarch, President, PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Company Limited (OR) and Mr Narong Sritalayon, Managing Director, Great Wall Motor (Thailand) (GWM) participated in the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the installation of EV Station PluZ I GWM chargers in potential commercial areas.

This is the first time that OR, as an EV charging station provider, and the leading automaker have collaborated to expand Quick Charge stations in potential commercial areas outside of service stations to cover leading department stores, community malls, and hotels, among others. The project will start with pilot installations that are expected to be completely rolled out within the fourth quarter of 2022.

Mr Suchat revealed that “This collaboration is to ensure a seamless energy transition as well as to encourage widespread use of electricity for the purpose of travel and transportation within the country, developing the company’s EV business and bringing it to the leading position in the EV Ecosystem. With concrete commitments and approaches to expanding the charging station network to potential commercial areas, this cooperation with GWM, one of the most significant EV manufacturers, marks the first time OR joins forces with an automaker. The new locations of EV Station PluZ I GWM charging stations at leading department stores, community malls, and hotels will facilitate accessibility to electric charging stations even more while also responding to lifestyles of consumers who have adopted electric vehicles and prefer using clean energy. The pilot branches of EV Station Pluz I GWM chargers were planned to be completely set up by 2022 and will secure their places in commercially potential areas, be they leading department stores, community malls, hotel chains, or any other areas that can precisely touch the needs of EV users.

Furthermore, in July, OR and GWM also signed an MoU for joint study and development of a platform to integrate the roaming system that helps navigate EV Station PluZ, book services, activate online payments, and check the roaming history, unlocking seamless connectivity within the EV Station PluZ network, both inside and outside PTT Stations, while also raising confidence of both GWM and OR’s customers, guaranteeing excellent services for all.”

Mr Narong said that “From the first step we took through to the second year of our business in Thailand, Great Wall Motor has been committed to providing electric vehicle products and services of high quality, as well as catering new experiences to consumers in parallel with developing and strengthening the EV Ecosystem in Thailand. We aim at erecting a total of 55 charging stations by 2022 through three operations: 1. G-Charge Super Charging Stations; 2. Electric charging station at GWM partner stores; 3. Destination charges (collaborating with business partners to set up charging stations at different landmarks nationwide). The collaboration engaged by Great Wall Motor and OR contributes to the expansion of Great Wall Motor’s charging stations, building new stations in communities and important landmarks. Not only will this enhance the experience of EV usage, convenience and peace of mind for travelers, but it also reflects Great Wall Motor’s commitments to steering the growth of the EV industry, as well as propelling Thailand to become a truly EV hub of the ASEAN region. Great Wall Motor would like to express our appreciation to OR for their trust, active cooperation, and support to complement the EV ecosystem.”

THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021217

BTS Group to offer Thailand’s first ‘Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLB)’ to general public 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022

With the issue credit rating of “A”, the subscription period for the SLB is expected to take place at the end of November 2022. The SLB will serve as an alternative investment for investors who seek to find attractive investment and to provide support on sustainability development. BTS Group together with 5 leading financial institutions will act as joint lead arrangers for this offering.

Bangkok, October 20, 2022 – BTS Group Holdings Public Company Limited (BTS Group) is preparing to offer sustainability-linked bonds (SLB) under the placement of Public Offering (PO) for the first time in Thailand. The offering consists of 4 tranches with the tenors ranging from approximately 2 years, 4 years 6 months, 7 years 6 months, and to 10 years. Interest payment for SLB will be paid semi-annually until the SLB’s maturity. The final coupon rate for each SLB tranche will be announced later. 

The SLB were rated “A” by TRIS Rating on September 19, 2022. The rating reflects the strength of the business. BTS Group appoints 5 leading financial institutions, including Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, and CIMB Thai Bank, as joint lead arrangers. The subscription period for SLB is expected to be at the end of November. BTS Group is confident that “Sustainability-linked Bonds” will receive warm welcome from a general public, following previous BTS Group’s SLB offering to high-net-worth and institutional investors at the beginning of this year. In addition to the return on investment and the acceptable risk level, SLB is also an important alternative investment instrument that gives investors the opportunity to contribute to the sustainability development together with the company. This is expected to be the major trend for future investment.

Mr Surayut Thavikulwat, Chief Financial Officer, BTS Group Holdings Public Company Limited, the issuer of the first-ever public offering sustainability-linked bond in Thailand, revealed that the Company is in the process of filing a registration statement (filing) for the offering of named, unsubordinated, unsecured, with debenture holders’ representative Sustainability-Linked Bonds to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC). The 4 tranches of SLB consist of bond tenor around 2-10 years. Interest payment term will be on semi-annual basis. The final interest rate will be announced later. Subscription period is expected to be at the end of November with a minimum subscription of 100,000 baht and a multiple of 100,000 baht.

“The sustainability issue is no longer a matter of one person, but it is related to everyone. The company has a determination to introduce SLB to a wide range of investors. Therefore, this time, we intend to offer SLB through a public offering, which is considered to be the first-ever in Thailand for SLB to be offered to retail investors. Previously, the company has issued SLB for high-net-worth and institutional investors, which was very successful. Hence, we believe this SLB will be well-received by retail investors as well. Investing in SLB provides more than just monetary return from investment, but also gives investors the opportunity to participate in building sustainability along with the company.” said BTS Group Chief Financial Officer. 

Sustainability-linked bonds (SLB) are debentures that tie the issuer to certain conditions, depending on the achievement of the predetermined targets, i.e. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Sustainability Performance Targets (SPTs). Such targets are required to be ambitious and material to the issuer as well as to have a positive impact on the environment and/or society.

For BTS Group, there are 2 KPIs and SPTs that the company uses as reference for this SLB issuance: 1) Improvement in energy efficiency in green line network (which is currently the main network); BTS Group has a target to reduce electricity consumption by 8% from business-as-usual operations within 9 years or by 2031, and 2) Production and/or procurement of Electricity consumption from renewable energy sources; the company has target to use electricity from renewable energy sources at least 10% each year of total electricity used in the operation of the green line network. Further details of KPIs and SPTs can be found in the registration statement and the draft prospectus (Filing).

In terms of SLB evaluation, the longest tenor of approximately 10-Year SLB, will be evaluated 4 times whether BTS Group has achieved the predetermined targets. The evaluation dates are at the end of selected fiscal year of the company i.e. 31 March 2024, 31 March 2026, 31 March 2028 and 31 March 2031. For shorter-tenor SLB, the number of evaluation will be less, depending on the tenor. If BTS Group fails to meet the predetermined sustainability goals, the Company will be required to purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) – a certification that certifies that the source of electricity is from renewable energy source – from agencies and/or organizations that are well-recognized nationally and/or internationally. The amount of such Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) purchase will depend on how many predetermined sustainability goal is not achieved; if the company fails both of sustainability goals, BTS Group will be obliged to purchase an equivalent amount of 0.10% per annum of the offering value of the debentures, whereas if the company fails only one of sustainability goal, BTS Group will be obliged to purchase an equivalent amount of 0.05% per annum of the offering value of the debentures. Such obligation portrays the company’s commitment on sustainability and environmental issues.

BTS Group Chief Financial Officer also stated that the issuance of BTS Group’s SLB is in line with the company’s long-term Climate Strategy, that is to maintain Carbon Neutral status and to commit in increasing the use of electricity generated from renewable energy to at least 10% of total energy used for its operations. Currently, the company is well-recognized for its sustainable business practices both nationally and internationally. The company has been included into the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for 4 consecutive years (2018-2021) and ranked first globally in the DJSI Transportation and Transportation Infrastructure (TRA) Sector for 2 consecutive years (2020-2021). Recently, it was selected to be the first and only rail transportation company in the world to be certified as a Carbon Neutral Transportation Company from Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization.

BTS Group’s core business consists of 3M. First, MOVE business, which is a door-to-door transportation service provider for passengers with various modes of travel, whether by rail, road, water or air. Also, the company is the pioneer of sky train operator for more than 20 years. Second, MIX business or marketing comprehensive service provider in the form of O2O solutions, that covers the advertising media business, payment service business and distribution business. And lastly, MATCH business seeks new business opportunities and cooperation through the company’s platform sharing to the group of companies and business partners.

Currently, the Company is in the process of filing the registration statement and the draft prospectus, which are not yet effective. Investors who are interested to invest in the Sustainable-Link Bond of BTS Group may find out more information and details in the prospectus on SEC’s website (www.sec.or.th) or may contact the followings 5 financial institutions:

1. Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (except Micro Branches) Tel. 1333, or book online via Bualuang mBanking application (https://www.bangkokbank.com/th-TH/Personal/Digital-Banking/Bualuang-mBanking/).

2. Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited, or book online via Krungthai Next application or via Money Connect by Krungthai (https://moneyconnect.krungthai.com/)

3. KASIKORNBANK Public Company Limited (Retail investors can subscribe via online online channel (https://www.kasikornbank.com/kmyinvest), non-residents can subscribe at head office and branches) Tel. 02-888-8888 press 819, including KSecurities Public Company Limited, as a sales unit of KASIKORNBANK  Public Company Limited, Tel. 02-796-0000 or 02-796-0011

4. The Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited Tel. 02-777-6784, or book online through the SCB EASY application.

5. CIMB Thai Bank Public Company Limited Tel. 02-626-7000, or book online through the CIMB Thai Digital Banking application

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021215

Riverside Terminal 21 finally opens after being delayed by Covid

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022

Bangkok shoppers have a stunning new option in the city. The brand new, riverside Terminal 21 Rama 3 shopping centre officially opened on Thursday.

Managed by LH Mall & Hotel, a developer under Land & Houses Plc, Terminal 21 Rama 3 is the fourth shopping mall in the company’s Terminal 21 series following Terminal 21 Asok (opened in 2011), Terminal 21 Korat (2016) and Terminal 21 Pattaya (2018).

Construction of the latest shopping mall had finished late last year but the grand opening had been postponed due to the Covid-19 situation. The mall features 140,000 square metres of usable space with an investment budget of 4 billion baht.

Located on 15 rai (2.4 hectares) land on Rama 3 Road in Bangkok’s Bang Kho Laem district, Terminal 21 Rama 3 comprises a seven-storey neo-classic style building plus two floors of basement, a parking lot for 1,658 cars, and an iconic clock tower that will be a new tourist landmark in central Bangkok by the Chao Phraya River.

Terminal 21 Rama 3 assigns different international themes for each of its floor, starting with Caribbean Village theme on lower ground floor, England Village on G floor, Italy Village on 1st, France Village on 2nd, Japan Village on 3rd, and San Francisco Village on 4th and 5th.

The mall can be reached by a variety of public transport, namely bus No. 22, 35, 59 and 205, Orange Line speed boat (Wat Rajsingkorn pier), BRT bus (Charoen Rat Station), and BTS Skytrain (Surasak station), where free shuttle bus service is provided.

Parking is free for the first four hours.

Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/MQw5FtyuWj7fcDdM9

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021180

EGCO Group Forum 2022: Carbon Neutral Pathway

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, EGCO Group invites you to join forces and head toward the low carbon society in the seminar “EGCO Group Forum 2022: Carbon Neutral Pathway”.

Explore the ways to:

 – Stop the rising temperature

– Stop the global warming, and

– Reduce carbon footprint in electricity and energy industries.

The seminar is scheduled on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, from 8.30 to 12.00 hours, at the Grand Ballroom, Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok Hotel.

To register: www.bangkokbiznews.com/seminar/egcogroupforum2022

For more information, contact 02 338 3000 press 1 

#EGCOGroup #30yearsEGCOGroup #EGCOGroupForum2022 #carbonneutralpathway

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021201

Two Fujifilm entities join hands with goal to become No. 1 total printing solutions provider

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2022

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Fujifilm Business Innovation is teaming up with Fujifilm to modernise the traditional printing format by digitising the analog system to keep up with the evolving digital world.

This first-time collaboration also implies that the companies can provide the best solutions and meet the needs of a wide range of customers in terms of usage and budget.

Ratchakrit Temboonsakdi, Fujifilm (Thailand) Unit Head of Graphic Communication Business Division and Industrial, stated at a press conference on Wednesday that the overall outlook for global printing is still positive.

He estimated that the printing industry would grow at a rate of 5-10 per cent a year.

However, as businesses go digital, many entrepreneurs, particularly those in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are looking for printing machines that can cut costs, save time, and boost productivity, said Ratchakrit

“Demand for digital printing services is increasing, particularly among SMEs and businesses in the e-commerce sector. As a result, the company is proud to present our advanced printing technologies and innovations in order to demonstrate our leadership and expertise in printing technology,” Ratchakrit noted.

Kitti Pornpipatwong, general manager of Graphic Communication Service at Fujifilm Business Innovation (Thailand), stated that the two forward-thinking companies will collaborate to optimise remarkable business performance and foster sustainable business development, with the goal of becoming the No. 1 total printing solutions provider in the future.

The announcement of the collaboration took place as Fujifilm Business Innovations, and Fujifilm participated as exhibitors at Pack Print International 2022, being held from October 19-22 at Bitec, Bangna.
 

Kitti pointed out that the goal of participating in the event was to demonstrate the company’s printing potential and the advancements in printing technology from Fujifilm so that business operators and industry stakeholders can stay up to date on the latest printing innovations in the printing industry.

“The company will be showcasing a variety of advanced printing technologies and solutions, as well as software that supports automation, such as software developed for automatic calibration of colour presses and programmes that enhance illustration and graphic development before going into production print,” he explained.

“There are also a variety of highly efficient functions for greater convenience in digital printing that exquisitely help to increase the value of each digital print work.”

Fujifilm Thailand has specialised in developing technologies and innovations to meet the needs of customers all over the world for over 30 years.

Meanwhile, Fujifilm Business Innovation is a manufacturer and distributor of well-known products, such as multi-functional printers, office printers, and advanced printers for publishing companies, as well as a provider of IT solutions and outsourcing services, including research and development to improve production efficiency.

Nongluck Ajanapanya