IN Brief

KTB cuts deposit rates

BANKING :Krung Thai Bank today is reducing its deposit rates by 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points.

Fixed-deposit rates for 24 and 36 months will be cut to 4.5% from 4.75% per year. Rates for 12-month deposits with balances below one million baht will be reduced to 3.75% from 4%, with balances from 1-10 million cut by a half-point to 4.25%.

Rates on accounts with balances above 10 million baht will be cut by a half-point to 4.5% per year.

ATC profit up 22%

CHEMICALS :The Aromatics (Thailand) Plc (ATC), the country's top maker of aromatic petrochemicals, yesterday reported a 22% year-on-year increase in 2006 net profit, beating analysts' forecasts.

ATC, 50% owned by PTT Plc, said net profit rose to 6.4 billion baht or 6.62 baht per share, from 5.2 billion baht in 2005. Fifteen analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had forecast an average net profit of 6.3 billion baht for 2006 and 6.8 billion for 2007.

ATC's fourth-quarter net profit was 2.16 billion baht, up from 699 million in the same period a year earlier.

Sales rose 19% to 74.8 billion baht last year as average product prices rose 17% to $721 per tonne. The company said its margins between product and material prices rose 4% to $146 per tonne last year.

ATC produces chemicals such as paraxylene and benzene, used to make polyester and plastic bottles. It has a production capacity of 1.1 million tonnes a year.

Paraxylene prices averaged $1,106 per tonne in 2006, up 25% from a year earlier. Benzene prices were up 5% to $854.

ATC shares closed yesterday on the SET at 39.25 baht, up 75 satang, in trade worth 466.23 million baht. REUTERS

STEC aims for profit

CONSTRUCTION :Sino Thai Engineering (STEC), the country's third largest construction firm, said yesterday that it expected a 17% rise in 2007 revenues and a net profit for the year.

The company would hit its revenue target of 14.5 billion baht for 2006, up 11% on the previous year, although it would still register a net loss, said financial director Woraphant Chontong.

"We should report a net loss for last year. But we aim for a net profit this year and we target revenues for the year of seventeen billion baht," he said.

The company plans to sell one billion baht worth of bonds in 2008 to fund future expansion and would use two billion baht raised in a private offering last year to fund expansion this year, he said.

STEC shares closed yesterday on the SET at 4.44 baht, down two satang, in trade worth 11.3 million baht. REUTERS

TV meter firm approved

ELECTRONICS :Pick & Place Co, a Slovenian electronics firm, has received Board of Investment approval to produce TV viewing measurement systems at a planned factory in Phuket.

The company plans to invest 66 million baht in a plant with annual capacity of 33,000 "people meters", devices used by advertisers and TV programme producers to monitor audience numbers.

The company expects to use Thailand as its base to export its Television Measurement Generation 5 (TVM 5) units to Asia, Europe and Australia, according to BoI deputy secretary-general Thamrong Mahatchariyawong.

10th anniversary

MEDIA :Brand Connections Co, a local media agency, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Prasert Eamrungroj, the company's founding partner, said it was the first media agency in Thailand, which unbundled media planning and buying functions from the full-service advertising model.

Mr Prasert said the company would continue initiating new ideas and services for clients, such as the communication planning service it introduced last year. He said the process of building a brand should not focus only on advertising, but also communication to the public.

Ichaya Santitrakul, a co-founder, said that although last year was another tough year for the advertising industry, Brand Connections achieved its billing target of 1.4 billion baht. She declined to make a forecast for this year, saying only that it would be even tougher.

Currently, the firm's accounts cover 40 brands under 25 clients ranging from the Charoen Pokphand Group to 20th Century Fox.

14-day bills yield 4.74%

DEBT MARKET :The Bank of Thailand yesterday auctioned 15 billion baht worth of 14-day bills for a weighted average accepted yield of 4.74373%. Accepted bid yields ranged from 4.71% to 4.755%, with the bid coverage ratio 2.9 times.

The central bank also sold 20 billion baht in two-year bonds for a weighted average accepted yield of 4.5722%. Accepted bid yields ranged from 4.537% to 4.592%, with bid coverage of 2.29 times.

Bangkok Post
Wednesday January 31, 2007