Of the target for the year, Bt1.3 billion was recovered in the first six months, and is expected to reach Bt1.850 billion in August this year, IAM’s manager, Thongrob Danampai, said.

He added that IAM was confident of meeting this year’s target.

IAM, which is wholly owned by the Finance Ministry, was set up in 2016 under a Cabinet resolution the same year to manage the Islamic Bank’s NPF.

Thongrob added that IAM has capitalised on technologies and competent staff to effectively manage such NPF.

He added that the bank’s existing small and medium-sized clients still needed to expand their businesses and recruit more staff. He said IAM’s role was to help them revive their businesses as soon as possible. “Once they recover, they can contribute to the country’s competitiveness in the future,” he said.

“We believe our sector and stock picks will withstand a certain amount of market volatility given our bottom-up perspective, as each sector/stock provides a clear set of positive factors,” Passakorn Linmaneechote, deputy managing director of Kasikorn Securities, said on Tuesday.

“We expect the new government to immediately implement short-term economic stimulus measures to stimulate consumer spending, through measures such as handing out more welfare cards or issuing subsidies for the agricultural sector,” he added.

Hence, he said, CP All Plc, a leading firm in consumer products, will likely benefit from the boost in consumer spending making CPALL a promising equity to invest in.

“We also continue to keep big banks in our preferred-sector list due to low downside risks and higher probability to exit the non-performing loans [NPL] cycle as it ages,” he said.

A report from Kasikorn Securities stated that from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year, the formation of NPLs fell from 2.12 per cent to 2.04 per cent.

“While the pace of a decline in credit costs has been slow, we expect the sector to reduce it further,” Passakorn continued, adding that he recommends Krungthai Bank (KTB) equity for investment in big banks.

“Krungthai Bank’s strong loan growth should be supported by corporate, retail, and government sectors, while it is less affected by a lower fee income given a low base.”

Furthermore, he said, KTB offers an attractive dividend yield, which is expected to be 4 per cent this year.

The industrial-estate sector, he said, also has high potential for growth in 2019.

“The potential relocation of Chinese manufacturers in this region will remain a key performance driver for the sector. The government’s focus on upgrading infrastructure and roadshows promoting Thailand as a key investment destination should also help support the sale of land,” he added.

AMATA is the equity recommended for this sector, because there have been significant inquiries about its estates from Chinese investors. The company has also said it is confident that its 950-rai (152-hectare) sales target for 2019 is achievable.

Passakorn also predicted that the Bank of Thailand (BOT) will maintain its interest rate at 1.75 per cent all this year, because he reckons the Monetary Policy Committee will prefer to focus on financial stability over stimulating the economy through monetary measures.

However, the committee’s statement after their next meeting in July could signal that BOT is willing to reduce its policy rate if the Thai currency continues strengthening and the economy continues slowing down at an alarming rate. He said this statement could also generate a positive reaction in the stock market.

With dovish sentiments voiced by central banks across the world, with some lowering their policy rates, bond prices will rise and yields will drop, leading to more capital flowing into stock markets, including the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), Passakorn added.

He said the SET index could reach 1,775 points in 2019 due to the aforementioned factors.

“Basically we are now focusing on our strengths, which are transactional banking, foreign exchange, risk hedging, capital markets, debt financing solutions, strategic advisory,” Pimolpa Suntichok, Deutsche Bank Thailand’s country officer and general manager, said.

“We’ll exit equity sales and trading globally to release capital usage and allocate more capital to core businesses.”

The reorganisation will refocus the bank around clients to our core strength and invest 13 billion euros (Bt449 billion) by 2022 in technology to drive efficiency and improve products and services.

“DB Thailand will continue to serve clients as normal and clients should rest assured that all the changes globally will give us the best focus to give our clients the best service with sustainable business in the long-term,” Pimolpa said.

The company recently introduced two new products in the skincare and health segments, targeting mass consumers in the Thai market. It expects total revenue to reach Bt1 billion this year and is looking to Bt10 billion in total sales through a major expansion of its overseas business, enhancing the P80 brand in the global market.

Prayudh Mahagitsiri, alias “Mr Nescafe”, chairman of PM Group and Natural Bev Co Ltd, said: “After having succeeded in Nescafe and various other businesses, we wanted to promote an innovative product that would improve the health of Thai people. Driven by the concept of “Money cannot buy good health,” we were in search for health products with measurable benefits and certified by research.

Subsequently, we discovered the “P80 Natural Essence,” a concentrated longan essence drink clinically tested by Chiang Mai University. The P80 Natural Essence helps heal the body internally , improve sleep quality and reduce blood pressure. We then invested more than Bt2 billion in manufacturing facilities , in accordance with the HACCP, GMP, ISO9000 standards, on a 140 rai site, for the production of health products under the P80 brand . We plan to raise awareness of the brand, through the 360 degree marketing strategy.”

Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, chief executive officer, added: “Nowadays, most consumers are more health – conscious and have switched to drinks that benefit the body. There are many health drinks in the market, but only 3-4 key players. Natural Bev has been distributing “P80 Natural Essence” through modern trade channels for several years. With the launch of Natural Bev Network, we have started our network marketing business (MLM) , to make P80 Natural Essence reachable for Thai consumers nationwide”.

The P80 products distributed through modern trade outlets and network marketing channels, will differ clearly in terms of packaging, design and sizes to avoid confusion among consumers.

Natural Bev also recruited superstar “Nadech Kugimiya” as the barnd’s presenter, receiving positive responses in both the modern trade and MLM channels.

Chalermchai added that: “Natural Bev recently organised an event to introduce two new products to MLM members: 1) Skinnic, a beauty product in the skincare segment, targeting mass consumers. aged 30-40 or above, and 2) P80 Boost or “Ready to Drink,” a longan natural extract drink in the health segment, containing various vitamins and ingredients carefully selected from abroad. P80 Boost comes with the concept “Easy to Use, Easy to Grab and Easy to Drink. These two new products cater to the needs of consumers in the mass market . Natural Bev plans to keep rolling out new products”.

This year, Natural Bev has kept its focus on digital development and recruiting more new-generation workers. The company aims to raise business builders’ competitiveness by giving employees quick access to technological tools.

At present, Natural Bev’s members account for 30,000 codes, 10,000 of which are active and are categorised as 65 per cent business leaders and 35 per cent consumers.

The marketing plan of the multi-level marketing business allows consumers to transition themselves into independent distributors. They will be able to generate income and build their own business, in addition to the binary payment system that enables them to work more efficiently.

The company believes the strategy of launching new products, and promoting them to consumers in the mass market, will help simulate sales.

Natural Bev plans to expand its MLM business to countries in the Asia Economic Community where modern trade are prevalent, such as China, Laos, Cambodia and United States.

In Thailand, Natural Bev has established business centres in five provinces ( Nakhon Pathom, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai, Chonburi and Ayutthaya) to provide members easy access to its products and services, marketing planning and training.

The NBTC had set up a subcommitee to determine the compensation that should be paid to six digital TV licence holders returning seven licences they hold.

Voice TV channel will go off the air at midnight on August 31, NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said.

On Tuesday, the subcommittee will also calculate the compensation for MCOT, which aims to return its MCOT Family Channel 14 licence. The MCOT channel will go off the air on September 15 midnight.

The subcommittee has yet to calculate the compensation for BEC World’s Channel 3 for return of its Family Channel 13 and 3SD Channel 28.

Takorn estimated that Channel 13 would get compensation of around Bt162 million and the 3SD Channel 28 of over Bt680 million.

Both will go off the air at midnight on September 30.

Related story: NMG shareholders to decide on returning Spring 26 channel licence to NBTC

Six commercial digital TV broadcasters announced on May 10 that they were returning the seven licences they had secured from the NBTC. May 10 was the deadline for any broadcaster to declare their intention to return their licences.

The six broadcasters returning their licences included Spring News Television Co Ltd’s Spring News Channel 19, and Nation Multimedia Group (NMG)’s Spring 26 Co Ltd, which will hand back its licence for Spring 26 Channel (formerly known as NOW26 channel).

The others are Bright TV, which is returning its licence for Channel 20, Voice TV for Voice TV Channel 21, MCOT for MCOT Family Channel 14, and BEC World’s Channel 3 for its Family Channel 13 and 3SD Channel 28.

The NBTC board last month approved a resolution that the regulator will pay net compensation of Bt675.764 million to Spring 26 Channel, more than Bt500 million to Spring News Channel 19, and Bt371.983 million to Bright TV. All three stations will go off the air at midnight on August 15.