IN Brief

PTTEP issue popular

DEBT MARKET : PTT Exploration and Production's three-year issue of 3.5 billion baht worth of unsubordinated, unsecured debentures was 3.3 times oversubscribed, according to underwriters.

The coupon was set at 4.88% and the bonds carry an AAA rating from Tris Ratings. Standard Chartered Bank was the lead underwriter with Bank of Ayudhya, Krung Thai Bank and Thanachart Securities co-underwriters. The issue is the first corporate debenture issue in the market this year, and the first baht debenture by PTTEP in four years.

PTTEP shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 98.50 baht, down 50 satang, in trade worth 423.37 million baht.

Registrations up

PROPERTY :A total of 72,723 new housing units were registered in Greater Bangkok in the first 11 months of last year, according to the Real Estate Information Centre.

The number was greater than the total registrations of 72,072 new units in 2005, and the centre expected the full-year figure for 2006 would be 78,000 to 79,000 units, or a gain of around 9%, said director Samma Kitsin.

From the 11 months of data, about 55% of the total or 40,059 units were single houses, 1% or 855 units were semi-detached houses, 22% or 15,966 units were townhouses and commercial units and 22% or 15,843 units were condominiums.

While single-house registrations were down, the proportion of condominiums has risen steadily from 12.2% of the total in 2004 to 15.1% in 2005 and 22% in 2006.

Mr Samma said average registrations of new units per year stood at 72,000 from 1996 to 2005 but the number rose to 81,500 during the 12-year period between 1995 and 2006. The market peaked at 178,853 units in 1995 and 176,616 in 1996.

"Although total registrations of new units are high, they are still less than prior to the 1997 crisis. We should carefully watch the the growth in condominiums," he said.

Rice bids on Tuesday

COMMODITIES :The Foreign Trade Department will open bids on Tuesday to sell a total 283,000 tonnes of rice from the state stockpile.

The amount consists of 183,000 tonnes of fragrant Hom Mali rice from the 2004-05 crop season and 100,000 tonnes of white rice from the 2005-06 harvest.

Apiradi Tantraporn, the department's director-general, said the sale would not only clear out the government's huge stockpile but would ease the current supply shortage in the market.

Winning bidders will have 30 days to take the rice from state warehouses if they win fewer than 20,000 tonnes, and 60 days for larger amounts.

Thailand's rice exports in January totalled 598,000 tonnes and the country expects to ship about 8.5 million tonnes this year, about one million tonnes higher than the amount last year.

Credit ratings on agenda

INVESTING :The Thai Bond Market Association and Nomura Research Institute will hold a seminar titled "Usage of Credit Ratings for Cross-border Investment" on Feb 23 at the Landmark Hotel.

The free seminar will focus on the importance of credit rating agencies in cross-border investment, and will include presentations by Tris, Fitch Ratings, Pimco Singapore and the ThaiBMA. For more information, contact the ThaiBMA at 0-2252-3336 ext 110, 119, 311.

Anti-ageing conference

HEALTH CARE :Bumrungrad International and the Vitallife Wellness Center, in co-operation with the Thai Anti-Ageing Medicine Association, will holding the Bangkok 2007 Conference on Anti-Ageing for medical professionals from Feb 15-16 at Bumrungrad Hospital.

The conference, to be held in English, will feature briefings by world experts on new anti-ageing developments. For more information, contact 0-2667-1282 or e-mail antiaging@bumrungrad.com

14-day bills yield 4.74%

DEBT MARKET :The Bank of Thailand yesterday auctioned 25 billion baht worth of 14-day bills for a weighted average accepted yield of 4.74607%. Accepted bid yields ranged from 4.737% to 4.75%, with the bid coverage ratio 2.59 times.

Reserves up $800m

FINANCIAL DATA :International reserves totalled $66.5 billion as of Feb 2, compared with $65.7 billion the week before, the Bank of Thailand said yesterday.

The net forward position was $7.9 billion as of Feb 2, compared with $8.2 billion the week before. Net claims on government were 62.5 billion baht, compared with 61.4 billion. Net claims on financial institutions were -935.6 billion baht, compared with -924.4 billion. Reserve money was 827 billion baht, compared with 815.8 billion the week before.

Bangkok Post
Sunday February 11, 2007