Thai Airways expects return to stock market by 2025 as revised rehab approved
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022
Ailing Thai Airways International (THAI) has expressed confidence in completing rehabilitation within two years and returning to the stock market by 2025, after its new rehab plan was approved.
THAI’s CEO Suvadhana Sibunruang confirmed on Thursday that the Central Bankruptcy Court had approved the national carrier’s revised plan for financial restructuring.
He said the airline would now hire a financial adviser to implement the rehab plan as soon as possible to return THAI to sustainable profitability. He expects the plan to be implemented from the beginning of next year.
Under the plan, THAI will launch a 25-billion-baht rights issue while securing 12.5 billion baht in credit to ensure liquidity for its 2023 budget. It will also refund purchases of all unused tickets by January 31, 2024. The airline’s current cash flow is reported to be around 20 billion baht.
Suvadhana said THAI expects to resume stock market trading in 2025 after returning to continuous profit. Its profitability since filing its revised rehab plan with the Central Bankruptcy Court in July would likely continue as passenger numbers grow and the airline cuts costs and boosts revenue, he added.
The airline originally filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2019 after reporting accumulated debt of 245 billion baht. In May 2020, the Cabinet gave the rehabilitation plan the green light. The revised plan was issued after THAI halved its workforce from over 29,000 to 14,000, reduced its fleet to 58 aircraft and forecast better-than-expected performance with cabin loads at 80 per cent or higher this year.
NBTC greenlights merger of True and DTAC with conditions
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022
Thailand’s telecommunications regulator acknowledged and approved the merger of the country’s second and third largest mobile operators, True Corporation Pcl and Telenor ASA’s Total Access Communication Pcl (DTAC), on Thursday subject to conditions.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) said conditions included a price ceiling and price controls.
The delayed decision comes nearly a year after the deal was first announced amid concerns of the new entity reducing market competition.
Other conditions include requiring an independent verification of cost structure and service fee for at least five years. Service rates such as voice, data, messaging must be shown separately and based on average cost pricing.
The combined entity will overtake Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS), as market leader. True and DTAC have 34% and 21% of mobile subscribers, respectively. AIS controls 44% of the market.
True, DTAC and AIS did not immediately respond to requests for comment
DTAC is backed by Norwegian firm, Telenor.
Thai agri-industrial conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group holds a 49% stake in True Corp with China Mobile holding 18%, True’s website shows.
Telenor and CP Group are slated to hold a third of shares each in the new entity, China Mobile with 10% and the remaining listed on the stock exchange.
Rival AIS is owned by InTouch Holdings Pcl , which counts Gulf Energy Development Pcl and Singtel as its main investors.
Diversity, equity and inclusion key to retaining talent, FleishmanHillard finds after first phase of implementation
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022
Nongluck Ajanapanya
FleishmanHillard, the world’s fourth-largest communications agency, has revealed the secret sauce to retaining their talented people worldwide — through a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).
Leela Stake, a senior partner and cabinet member at FleishmanHillard, told The Nation in an exclusive interview that the company had launched the DE&I practice two years ago, just before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Initially intended to promote inclusion and diversity within the organisation, the outcome has been greatly accomplished with the byproduct of low employee resignation and turnover rates, said Stake.
She noted that the DE&I term became a buzzword during the pandemic, when people faced numerous challenges and difficulties.
“The workforce has been raising questions such as, ‘Have I been doing valuable work at my work or am I valuable at work?’. If they feel they are not being valued at work, they will definitely leave. If we can make people feel valued at the workplace, they will stay in that workplace,” Stake stated.
She insisted that losing employees is costly and that finding replacements takes a long time. Therefore, FleishmanHillard, which is in an industry with high turnover rates, must be mindful of retaining employees by demonstrating that the company values them and their opinions.
WORKEST by Zenefits examined data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics on employee turnover rates at the national level. Backfilling roles, according to analysts, cost employers roughly 20 per cent of the position’s salary in hiring, recruiting, and onboarding costs. On average, the hiring process takes at least 36 days.
According to Stake, the concept of DE&I is literally its definition. Diversity is valuing people’s various backgrounds; Equity is understanding that not everyone had the same opportunity and giving one to the needy, and Inclusion means encouraging participation and making people feel like they belong.
It is, however, easier said than done. As a result, FleishmanHillard developed a concrete practice for their employees worldwide to follow, along with a process for measuring progress.
“We formalised our DE&I plan in 2020 as a two-year plan with targets in different areas. Once a year we record the progress. The progress on DE&I can be slow and requires constant learning. You have to listen to what people are feeling within the organisation. We have a comprehensive survey to ask about DE&I, their feelings and needs. If you are not asking the employees their needs, you can’t measure what you want to achieve,” said Stake.
She added that their first phase of DE&I is now complete so they are looking forward to the next phase.
She mentioned that the next phase is to foster relationships, from which they will learn more about their research findings. It will take time and effort to develop a proactive programme.
“One example is our recent programme called ‘Strengths Finder’, in which we discover each other’s strengths and combine them to form a whole workplace. We will provide additional training to our managers all over the world. DE&I is not just the responsibility of a few people but of everyone,” Stake noted.
Aside from the benefits within FleishmanHillard, Stake highlighted the use of DE&I knowledge to benefit its clients by allowing them to have an authentic, local, and relevant voice.
“Creating a statement without understanding the local market is a common mistake made by businesses. At FleishmanHillard, we bring local expertise of those who actually live in the market,” said Stake. “We are looking forward to our DE&I survey results. By having people tell their own personal story and the challenges, we can learn more about their views and needs.”
Stake said that DE&I should be ingrained in how everyone does everything. Every piece of content and every creative campaign should be created with inclusivity in mind. Although it is not yet available everywhere, FleishmanHillard is making strides.
NBTC commissioners fail to decide on True-DTAC merger after seven-hour meeting
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022
The telecom watchdog on Thursday failed to reach a resolution on whether to approve the merger of True Corporation and Total Access Communication (DTAC).
The five members of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) voted 3:2 to confirm that it has the power to consider the matter.
But when it came to the question of whether the proposed merger between Thailand’s second and third-largest mobile network operators should get the green light, the commissioners had yet to make any decision.
The five commissioners began their meeting at about 9.30am but no decision could be reached after seven hours of deliberations.
Siam Commercial Bank and Barbara Oakley join hands to launch world-renowned course under the LHL Brainery Project to drive lifelong learning for all Thais
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022
THE NATION
SCB Academy, Siam Commercial Bank in collaboration with Barbara Oakley (PhD, PE.) owner and co-instructor of the world’s famous MOOCs, “Learning How to Learn: Powerful Mental Tools to Help You Master Tough Subjects” working together under the LHL Brainery project to remake the Thai version of this course on Coursera platform.
With aims to speed up learning skills through new approaches and brain-training techniques to equip Thai people with learning agility, helping them to keep up with the pace of change as well as setting a new mindset to be future-ready. Targeting to hand on this learning to students through university partnership networks, also pushing forward the LHL Brainery project to leverage utilization of such knowledge in areas of financial services, education sectors, and expanding into the future of Disruptive EdTech.
Mr Worawat Suvagodha, First Executive Vice President, Head of SCB Academy, Siam Commercial Bank said “We recognize the importance of learning ability and intellectual tools such as “Metacognition Skills” as the enabler for a person to learn anything despite the speed of change.” SCB Academy receiving the honor to be an entrusted re-producer of the course in Thai version on Coursera, would put us as one of the first Thai companies on the platform. With the Thai version of this course, we plan to expose through our partnered universities, government sectors, subsidiary companies, clients, and to the vast public to help elevate the ability to learn. Our collaborative relationship with Barbara Oakley (PhD, PE.) will raise public awareness to engage Thai learners in Learning How to Learn, this can become a national initiative to help raise the standards of learning approach in Thailand.”
SCB Academy’s strategy is to prioritized innovation and digitalization as core strategic goals to advance the overall development objectives through various partnerships. Providing a wider learning platform to promote innovative methods of digital learning and education. In hopes for success, our Academy as a Platform would be a place for connecting knowledge, skills and workforce with job/business opportunities.
“We will put forth a Learning How to Learn Academy to be an ingrained part of the platform. Together the Panel would help identify the needs to replace outdated learning approach with new methodologies that are widely accepted by all top-ranked experts and neuroscientists,” said Mr Worawat.
Dr Barbara Oakley, owner and co-instructor of the world’s famous MOOCs, Learning How to Learn: Powerful Mental Tools to Help You Master Tough Subjects, said that the course starts the complexity of the brain and how you learn, with using simple, fun metaphors to help people understand that these ideas are not that difficult, but in fact practical.” This could serve as a pioneering program to lay the foundation of metacognition skills for students, academicians, technologists, industry luminaries and experts, as well as large corporate and tech employees in Thailand.
“With our collaboration, SCB Academy has been using the insights of Learning How to Learn to become a learning organization so that employees can rapidly master even the toughest new skills demanded by today’s information economy and of course, this helps the them to stay ahead of the competition. Because digital “know how” is at the heart of the modern banking industry. These digital “know how” can be some of the hardest skills to learn and teach. It is certain that knowledge from Learning How to Learn can help close this knowledge gap and also allowing the Bank to give back to Thai society by creating value for through learning,” said Dr Barbara.
“These types of solid, research-based learning programs can help the country as a whole maintain a competitive edge. They also allow a way for the magnificent new neuroscientific insights about learning to flow into Thai ways of thinking about learning,” she said.
Overall, LHL Brainery is a project established to promote development of Metacognition Skills using principles of neuroscience. With taken fundamental concepts from one of the most popular online courses on Coursera, Learning How to Learn: Powerful Mental Tools to Help You Master Tough Subjects. The project began during COVID, our team of learning enthusiasts reached out to Barbara Oakley (PhD, PE.) for endorsements to adapt concepts from her course for Thai audience. Where she did not hesitate to grant us the opportunity to give back to society.
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.
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.”
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:
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
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.
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.
It is, however, easier said than done. As a result, FleishmanHillard developed a concrete practice for their employees worldwide to follow, along with a process for measuring progress.
SootinClaimon.Com 