The subordinated perpetual debentures, which also include an additional greenshoe offering of Bt2 billion, promises an annual return of 5 per cent for the first five years, payable quarterly.

TRIS Rating has given the debentures an A- score, while Thai Union has been given a A+ rating with a stable outlook.

The debentures, which should be up for sale between November 26 and 28, will strengthen Thai Union’s financial structure and build a long-term foundation for the company.

“At Thai Union, we have built a company that is financially robust thanks to our strict financial management,” Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said.

“We believe our stability, together with our potential for strong growth due to our global footprint and growing investment in innovation, will be attractive to investors, who are also looking for a healthy return on investment.”

Chansiri said the subordinated perpetual debentures will not only provide a strong financial structure for Thai Union, but also give it flexibility for growth and further investment to strengthen the company.

Thai Union’s subordinated perpetual debentures No 2/2019 are payable upon liquidation with the issuer having a call option and unconditional interest deferral.

The company also retains the right to call the debentures after five years or upon other conditions in accordance with the terms and conditions of the debentures as specified in the prospectus.

The debentures will be offered to the general public and/or institutional investors via joint lead arrangers Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank and Phatra Securities.

TRIS Rating gave Thai Union an A+ score because of its business performance as well as its strong strategy that focuses on new product development, cost controls and improving production efficiency. The company’s debt burden has also been lowered as a result of improved business performance and a reduction in expenditure.

Thai Union, which has a portfolio of 14 brands around the world, was recently ranked No 1 in global Food Products Industry Index of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for a second year running and has been part of the DJSI for six consecutive years, driven by SeaChange, its global sustainability strategy.

Moreover, Thai Union’s Global Innovation Centre (GIC), which was established in 2015, acts as a centre for research and the development of products for the company’s brands around the world.

It was also created to combine modern nutritional science and production innovation to develop products that address the needs of consumers and the global food industry. The GIC also uses technology and innovation to improve production processes, providing additional benefits and value to customers, consumers and stakeholders.

“Thai Union’s strict financial management, together with a strong and cautious approach to risk management, has always allowed the company to not only manage its debts, but also to continue paying dividends to shareholders,” Chansiri said. “Thai Union also adopted the new accounting system TAS32 earlier this year, and these debentures align with these regulations.”

Despite the expectation, the bank aims to grow its loan volume by 4-6 per cent in 2020, placing its emphasis on services that meet customers’ business and lifestyle needs, effective cost management and using data in lending to retail customers.

KBank’s board chairman Banthoon Lamsam said the Thai economy in 2020 will face numerous downside risks, in particular the protracted US-China trade rift and the strengthening baht which will hamper international trade.

In 2020, exports are expected to see a contraction of 2 per cent while the Thai economic growth will be mainly driven by domestic factors, such as implementation of infrastructure projects and cut in interest rates amid hefty household debt.

The bank’s strategy next year will follow the goal “To Empower Every Customer’s Life and Business”, towards becoming a customer-centric financial institution which creates financial innovation, equipped with proactive operation to deliver services up to international standard and sustainable value to all stakeholders.

Regarding its 2020 financial targets, KBank has set an overall loan growth target of 4-6 per cent, comprising corporate loans (2-4 per cent), SME loans(1-3 per cent)and retail loans (9-11 per cent).

Growth in net interest margin is set 3.1-3.3 per cent and non-interest income at minus 5 to minus 17 per cent.

In line with the theme “Together for a Fully Connected, Intelligent Thailand”, Huawei said it was committed to bringing the latest information and communications technology to the country.

“This year marks a significant milestone for Huawei, as we are celebrating our 20th anniversary in Thailand,” said Abel Deng, CEO of Huawei Thailand. “After 20 years in Thailand, we understand the market deeper than others and know how important innovation is for the future of Thailand.”

“The key to a country’s innovation ability lies in talents while the key to a country’s digital economy development is the industrial ecosystem. We have the responsibility to contribute more to Thailand, to shape a fully connected, intelligent Thailand together,” Deng said.

Since its establishment in Thailand in 1999, Huawei has been an important contributor to the development of Thailand’s ICT industry. The company successfully participated in the construction of 2G, 3G and 4G networks with innovative technologies.

“We are so proud to say that we made great contribution to Thailand in the past two decades. We are committed to be the enabler of Thailand 4.0, which fulfills our vision of ‘Bringing digital to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent world’,” Deng said.

Huawei has established its Southeast Asia regional headquarters, OpenLab Bangkok, Huawei Cloud Data Center, 5G Testbed, etc. Now, it has more than 3,200 employees in Thailand, 75 per cent of whom are locals.

In 2018, Huawei’s procurement in Thailand reached US$196 million.

Deng also revealed that the Thai government and Huawei Thailand had recently signed a memorandum of understanding. With this strategic MoU on ‘Nurturing Thai Digital Workforce for Innovative and Sustainable Society’, Huawei will strengthen knowledge-sharing and skills transfer and work with the Thai government, industrial organisations and enterprises to cultivate ICT digital talents and speed up Thailand 4.0.

Huawei will establish the Huawei Academy in Thailand, to explore and cultivate ICT talents, and enable Thailand 4.0.

With cutting-edge technologies such as Cloud, AI and Supercomputing, Huawei will enable the digital transformation of government departments and industries, facilitate startup and SME innovations, incubate innovative ecosystem based on 5G and drive Thailand’s innovation capabilities, in order to jointly build the prosperous industrial ecosystem for the fully-connected, intelligent society, Deng said.

“5G technology will support the development of AI, and if Thailand could be ahead, it will be faster than others. 5G will be the significant infrastructure, Cloud + AI will create a digital economy. We respect the digital sovereignty of Thailand, startups and SMEs from the world around can plant their “own crops” in the “fertile soil”, the open source platform provided by Huawei. With the digital ecosystem, Thailand can establish its own digital society,” said Deng.

As part of the celebrations marking Huawei Thailand’s 20th anniversary, Huawei will be showcasing its new vision of Thailand and achievements in creating rich ecosystems in Thailand on the theme of “Together for a Fully Connected, Intelligent Thailand” during the Digital Thailand Big Bang 2019 to be held at Bitec, Bangkok, from October 28-30.

The event will be hosted by Digital Economy Promotion Agency, which is under the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.

The Huawei Thailand pavilion at the Digital Thailand Big Bang 2019 will feature 400 square metres of floor space divided into 5 zones covering the fully connected smart ecosystem in Thailand and showcasing Huawei’s end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions and services in 5G, 5G ecosystem, smart city, Huawei cloud, and Huawei mobile.

These events will also help introduce a new ecosystem strategy from Huawei Thailand.

Huawei will be showcasing its vision and achievements in creating rich ecosystems in Thailand – including 5G innovations, smart cities, cloud + AI, and mobile developers.

These leading technologies will bring digital innovations to every person, home and organisation.

Experts from Huawei will join the conversation on many different topics to be explored at the event – ranging from 5G and the Internet of Things to smart city, cloud, and AI.

WHA Group chief executive officer Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, the property manager for WHART, said the assets to be sold into the trust are WHA’s premium built-to-suit warehouses & factories, complete with utilities-energy and digital infrastructures.

WHART CEO Narumol Tantayawit said that after the capital increase, the total assets of the trust will reach Bt38 billion.

It plans to offer the new trust units not exceeding 323.78 million units at an offering price not higher than Bt16.90/unit.

The sale of new trust units will be launched in this November and the acquisition of assets by the trust will be completed in December.

WHA Group, as the sponsor and the property manager, has gradually injected its assets into WHART since the trust’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2014.

Most of WHA Group’s assets are premium built-to-suit warehouses and factories, with a complete range of infrastructure covering utilities, energy and digital technology.

Moreover, most of WHA Group’s projects are strategically located in logistics areas of the country and in line with the development of Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) supported by the government.

The additional projects include 3 freehold projects and 2 leasehold projects with a net leasable areas of 155,237 square meters.

Of the total net leasable areas, 90 per cent are located in the Bang Na-Trat zone and the remaining 10 per cent in the EEC. Additional space includes rooftop leasable areas of 71,482 sqm and parking areas of 2,983 sqm on land areas of 172 rai and 226.75 sq wah.

The projects include 1) the DTS factory in WHA Chonburi Industrial Estate in Tambon Borwin, Sri Racha district in Chon Buri, 2) the Roechling factory in WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 1 in Tambon Khao Kansong, Sri Racha, 3) WHA Mega Logistics Centre (Chonharnpichit KM 3 Phase 1) in Tambon Bang Pla, Bang Phli district, Samut Prakan, 4) WHA Mega Logistics Centre (Chonharnpichit KM 3 Phase 2) also in Bang Pla, 5) WHA KPN Mega Logistics Centre(Bang Na-Trat KM23 Phase 2) in Bang Sao Thong district of Samut Prakan.

It is expected that the investment in additional assets will bring the total assets of WHART to more Bt38 billion, up from Bt33.214 billion, driving WHART into the top three in the REIT industry for warehouse, factory and distribution centres. This capital increase will also generate a steady return to the trust’s unit holders.

In the post transaction period, the proportion of freehold and leasehold assets of the trust will be maintained at 67 per cent and 33 per cent, mitigating the risks of declining asset values in the future.

The occupancy rate of the trust’s assets will be maintained at 90 per cent with strong tenant profiles and financial status.

After WHART completely invests in these assets, the trust is expected to pay higher dividends to unit holders estimated at around Bt0.79 per unit, based on the reviewed pro forma by the auditor. This represents total distribution yield from both dividend and capital decrease of around 4.67 per cent, when calculated from the trust unit offering price not exceeding Bt16.90.

Raveeratana Satchavarodom, Head of Investment Banking Business Division from Kasikornbank, the financial advisor and the lead underwriter of WHART trust units, said existing WHART unitholders will be able to subscribe WHART new trust units from the fourth capital increase, which will come to a total not exceeding 323.78 million units at the offering price not exceeding Bt16.90 per trust unit between November 12 and 15, and again on November18, while the general public (based on the consideration of the lead underwriter) will have a chance to subscribe to the new trust units from November 19 to 22 and again on November 25. The transfer of assets will be completed by the end of 2019.