The deal is valued at over US$100 million (nearly Bt3.18 billion) and will enable the airline to continue the modernisation and harmonisation process of its regional fleet around the ATR 72-600s.

Delivery of the aircraft is expected to take place between October 2018 and March 2019.

Bangkok Airways presently operates a fleet of 15 ATR aircraft: six ATR 72-500s and nine ATR 72-600s. The four additional aircraft will be utilised to support Bangkok Airways’ route extension plans across its domestic and regional network in the future.

Bangkok Airways was represented by Anawat Leelawatwatana, senior vice president for finance and accounting, while ATR’s representative was Christian Scherer, CEO. The signing ceremony took place at the Singapore Airshow.

Summer Hub Offices are located at the intersection of Rama IV and Sukhumvit roads, a few hundred metres away from the entrance and exit of those major roads.

Prab Thakral, president and CEO of Boutique Corporation, said: “This entire mixed-use lifestyle development is the answer to a lack of quality offices in the mid-Sukhumvit area. We are confident that Summer Hub Offices will meet the same success as Summer Hill, which is now fully occupied.”

Summer Hub Offices are set to open in the last quarter of 2018. The building will also feature its own retail space on the ground level and office spaces ranging from 150-900 square metres.

Rojana is a major shareholder in Ticon.

Ticon announced the sale in a Friday media release.

The share sale transaction is subject to the approval of the shareholders’ meeting of Rojana (which is scheduled to take place on March 23, 2018).

Frasers Assets Co Ltd is expected to then make a general tender offer to purchase the securities in the Company from the existing shareholders of the Company in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

The group was led by Jaana Husu-Kallio, permanent secretary of Finland’s Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, and was made up of  doctors, veterinarians and specialists from notable organizations across the world.

The purpose of visit was to learn about best practices for animal welfare with an emphasis on responsible antimicrobial use.

The group was welcomed by Dr Damnoen Chaturavittawong (DVM), senior vice president of the Swine Veterinary Service Department at CPF.

This field trip is part of PMAC Conference, which this year focused on “Making the World Safe from the Threats of Emerging Infectious Diseases”.

TMB said the offer did not cover surgical hospitals, beauty clinics or veterinary care.

Find out more from the TMB Contact Centre, 1558.

Fitch also assigned the company’s new senior unsecured debentures of up to Bt30 billion due 2022 a national long-term rating of “A+”.

The debenture proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt and fund the company’s capex and investments.

The notes are rated at the same level as SCC’s national long-term rating because they constitute the direct, unsecured, unconditional and unsubordinated obligations of the company.

The rating upgrade reflects the benefits of having diverse businesses, from cement and building materials to chemicals, and its financial profile improvement.

The strength of the chemicals business, combined with lower capex, has led to a significant financial profile improvement over the last few years.

Fitch expects this to be maintained, and should the company commit to a large chemicals investment.

It believes the “A+” rating can accommodate a continued strong credit profile with a leverage peak at around three times.

Organiser UBM BES said this week, with nearly 90 per cent of the show floor sold, that 1,800 companies would have exhibits.

The event has expanded to include a ninth exhibition hall at Bitec.

UBM BES said ProPak Asia would also expand the range of topics and displays concerning drink technology, meat-processing efficiency and a burgeoning new host of confectionary packing and processing equipment.

“We are very excited for this upcoming edition,” said UBM Asia (Thailand) general manager Justin Pau.

“In addition to offering the expected suite of big players in food packaging, processing and logistics, we’re making strong strides and partnerships to enhance the print technology, drink, meat-cutting and confectionary components for the 2018 event.”

He said ProPak Asia is the largest trade show of its kind in the East and also the “most international” event, hosting 17 pavilions from 13 countries, including leading producers of packaging and processing machinery from Germany, Italy, Japan and China.

ProPak Asia hosts companies from over 45 countries, representing 5,000 individual pieces of major packaging and processing equipment.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had announced the shift in the configuration of what the News Feed would allow last month, saying it would foster more “meaningful social interactions” for users.

But the Sao Paulo-based paper said the change would simply “promote the spread of fake news.”

“The disadvantages of Facebook as a way to send information to readers became more obvious following the social network’s decision to reduce the visibility of professional journalism on the pages of its users,” the newspaper said in a statement.

The newspaper also said its proportion of readers accessing content via Facebook had dropped to 24 percent in December from about 39 percent in early 2017.

Facebook has been under fire for months for the proliferation of Russian-created “fake news” on the platform that may have affected the 2016 US presidential election.

The daily stressed it would maintain its Facebook page but not update it with new information. Readers would still be able to share articles from the paper on their personal accounts.

Brazilian media group Globo temporarily stopped publishing content on the leading social network in 2013, before reversing course the following year.

Online media specialist Renato Cruz said Folha’s decision comes in a new media landscape, in which newspapers rely on digital subscriptions.

The measure will change the way in which readers access the newspaper’s content, he said, but does not necessarily deal Facebook a blow.

“By focusing on personal content, the social network has strengthened its business strategy: if a company wants to gain visibility, it must pay, whether it is a media outlet or not,” Cruz said.

Founded in 1921, Folha is the country’s largest newspaper based in Brazil’s economic capital, and boasts 5.95 million followers on Facebook.

Brazil is among the top five most active countries on Facebook, with more than 100 million users.

The California-based group said in a letter to Broadcom that the latest offer unveiled earlier this week “materially undervalues Qualcomm” and does not take into account the possibility of a failure to win regulatory approval.

The letter from Qualcomm chairman Paul Jacobs to Broadcom chief executive Hock Tan however opened the door to talks to discuss “the significant issues that remain unaddressed” in the hostile proposal.

The Qualcomm board “has unanimously determined that your amended offer materially undervalues Qualcomm and falls well short of the firm regulatory commitment the board would demand given the significant downside risk of a failed transaction,” Jacobs said in his letter.

“However, the board is committed to exploring all options for maximizing shareholder value, and so we would be prepared to meet with you to allow you to explain how you would attempt to bridge these gaps.”

The move comes three days after Broadcom boosted its offer to $82 a share to create a global giant in the chipmaking sector, a deal worth some $146 billion including assumed debt.

Jacobs said the offer “raises more questions than it answers” and also fails to address the planned takeover by Qualcomm — the dominant producer of chips for mobile devices — of Dutch manufacturer NXP.

“What is the true highest price at which you would be prepared to acquire Qualcomm? Is it $82 per share or is it higher?” Jacobs said.

The letter said the bid “ascribes no value” to NXP or to Qualcomm’s plans to roll out new devices for the fifth generation of wireless networks known as 5G.

“Your proposal is inferior relative to our prospects as an independent company and is significantly below both trading and transaction multiples in our sector,” the Qualcomm chairman wrote.

– Broadcom’s move to US –

Broadcom made its first offer on November 6 following a visit by its CEO to the White House, where he met President Donald Trump and announced plans to move the tech company back to the United States from Singapore.

If completed, the deal would be the largest-ever in the tech sector and create a powerful player in the booming sector fueled by growth in smartphones and an array of connected devices from cars to wearables.

Any merger deal would need to pass muster with regulators in the United States and other markets.

Broadcom, which has begun a process to reincorporate in the United States, called its sweetened bid on Monday its “best and final offer.”

The rich offer puts pressure on Qualcomm, which is set to hold its annual shareholders meeting next month.

In a letter to Qualcomm board members this week, Tan called the offer “extremely compelling compared to any other alternative available to Qualcomm” and called on the board to open talks on the proposal.

But he said the deal would be off the table if it fails to win shareholder approval.

In December, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf argued there was “no real path to value” with Broadcom.

The small local bank is also targeting lending growth of 10-15 per cent this year, Sasithorn Pongsathorn, president of LH Bank, said yesterday.

Mark Chen, senior executive vice president, said: “We expect to have a large number of Taiwan investor clients this year.” He did not elaborate on a target figure.

Sasithorn said that LH Banks, after having gained CBTC as a strategic partner, landed a number of Taiwanese clients via CBTC channels. Some four to five of these investors have loans worth around a combined Bt2 billion, the bank’s president added.

Taiwanese investors are active players in Thailand, with many drawn to the electronics and petrochemical industries.

Chen said he just met with members of a trade mission involving some 200 investors who visited the Amata Industrial Park in Chon Buri, one of the three Eastern provinces that are home to the proposed EEC.

Large corporates

Big corporate clients represent 69 per cent of the bank’s lending portfolio. The bank would continue to focus on large corporates, said Sasithorn.

Mortgages and retail represented 17 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, of the bank’s lending portfolio.

Regarding mortgage loans this year, the bank is aware of the financial position of people in the lower end of the market and would concentrate on loans for properties worth at least Bt4 million, Sasithorn said.

She said new lending this year is expected to grow 10-15 per cent from the year before, benefiting from the continuing economic recovery, with growth in gross domestic product estimated to come in at 4 per cent in 2018.

To raise funds for its high lending target, the bank launched a new deposit product, a three-month time deposit rate at 1.68 per cent interest a year for a maximum deposit of Bt 2 billion, according to LH Bank’s executives. The promotion, which began yesterday, will continue until March 31

For the wealth management business, Monrat Phadungsit, managing director of LH Fund, said that the fund would continue to invest in equities, as shares are still attractive for investment amid market volatility. The fund has assets under management of Bt59.8 billion.

One of the investment risks, Monrat said, was the inflation outlook in the United States. If the inflation rate rises, the US Federal Reserve may increase its policy rate by more than the markets expected, he said.

Regarding the fund’s investment policy related to corporate governance, he said that as the fund manager he would keep in the mind the principles of corporate governance.

His comment came after the chief executive of Italian-Thai Development, Premchai Kanasutra, was arrested on allegations of animal poaching in a protected forest.

LH Financial Group had a net profit of Bt2.6 billion last year, down 3.4 per cent from the year before. However, its operating profit rose 11.1 per cent to Bt3.5 billion, helped by interest rate revenue increasing 2.9 per cent and fee revenue climbing 28 per cent.

Its total asset last year were Bt233 billion, a rise of 9.9 per cent from the year before.