Thoresen to join IPP bidding in Indonesia
Saturday, January 19 2013 - 01:25 AM WIB
Qing Mei Pte Ltd, of which TTA holds 30%, is preparing to buy the term of reference for the bidding on a combined 30 megawatts of coal-fired power plant, which bidding proposal will be submitted by July.
There are four partners for the Indonesian coal mine operation including TTA and one local partner.
The other two are British Marine, which trades mainly coal and other commodities, and the Philippines-based Merton Group (Cyprus) Ltd, which is partly owned by TTA.
"The partners have invested US$9 million in a concession that consists of four blocks on Borneo island, with the first one containing 97 million tonnes of reserves," said Chandchutha Chandratat, TTA's president and chief executive as quoted by Bangkok Post.
"If we win the bidding, we'll expand the coal mine business there, but if we don't, then we'll know the winner and approach them about selling the coal to the plant, which is very near our concession block," he said.
TTA expects revenue growth of 20% from last year's 17 billion baht.
About half the earnings will come from its Mermaid Maritime subsidiary, which hopes to have more than three subsea oil drilling fields this year.
If the Baltic Dry Index averages between 800-900 points, TTA will return a profit this year, following a 4.8-billion-baht net loss last year, he said.
The company has adjusted its fund-raising plan after the original one failed to get the endorsement of shareholders.
Under the new plan, TTA targets raising 6.3 billion baht through a rights offering (RO) of shares plus warrants, down from 9 billion planned earlier.
TTA also changed the RO ratio to 5:2 from 1:1, as it was one of the main points of contention with investors, plus free warrants with exercise rights within 2.5 years at a price of 17 baht.
The new capital will be used mainly for Thoresen Shipping, the listed Singaporean subsidiary, to buy second-hand ships to expand its fleet by 50% to 24 by 2015.
The projected fleet size was scaled down from the previous target of 30 ships due to smaller recapitalisation.
Prices of eight-year-old second-hand vessels have decreased to $17 million, but they could decline further to $14-15 million, said ML Chandchutha.
The shipping industry is expected to bottom out this year.
But TTA itself expects its revenue will increase by 25% to 20 billion baht thanks to improved operations of offshore oil and gas services of Mermaid Maritime plus subsidiary Baconco's fertiliser business in Vietnam. (*)