Thai bourse promotes investment at Money Expo Pattaya

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) continues its mission to promote knowledge about personal finance planning and investment alternatives, under the theme “Increasing value to your saving, increasing your investment money,” in SET in the City Zone at Money Expo Pattaya. The event will be held for investors in Chonburi and nearby provinces for the first time this year, at Royal Cliff Beach Resort, during February 5-7.


“This year, SET plans to hold activities throughout the year to promote knowledge and understanding about saving and investment, supporting investors nationwide to manage their finances through different financial products. Our activities will facilitate investors’ easy access to information. The first event will be in Chonburi, followed by Bangkok in May, Nakhon Ratchasima in October, and Chiang Mai in November. Moreover, SET plans to consistently hold seminars and training courses on its new products,” said SET President Patareeya Benjapolchai.

“Holding activities for investors is one strategy to increase SET liquidity in 2010, as it will help investors and others understand about SET financial products, including the new ones to be launched this year. These products increase investment opportunity and can be used as risk management tools for investors,” added Ms. Patareeya.

Chonburi is the center of industrial and agricultural production in the East. With its strong potential for saving and investment of the people in this area, eleven securities firms with a total of 18 branches service the largest area in the East. SET, therefore, will hold SET in the City Zone at Money Expo Pattaya as the first event this year, under the theme “Increasing value to your saving, increasing your investment money,” noted SET Group Head, Product Development Kesara Manchusree.

“Today, people are looking for investment alternatives that give more return than bank deposit. This event will focus on providing investment knowledge to the public to diversify their savings to different financial products, including equities, derivatives, gold futures and mutual funds, particularly derivatives which currently is receiving great attention from investors, as derivatives accounts reached 29,546 in total (as of end-2009), an increase of 89% over 2008,” said Ms. Kesara.

At this event, leading securities and asset management companies will provide investment consulting, account opening services for all products and seminars by executives from securities companies and leading analysts everyday at 13.00-15.00 hrs. In addition, contestants can apply for the online competition SET-TFEX Click2WIN 2010.

Moreover, participants will have a chance to receive numerous souvenirs. SET in the City Zone at Money Expo Pattaya will be held at Peach Convention Hall, Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Pattaya, Chonburi during February 5-7. For more information, please contact S-E-T Call Center at 0 2229 2222 or visit www.set.or.th

Fitch Affirms Holcim Capital (Thailand)’s Bonds; Revises Outlook to Stable

Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has today affirmed the National Long-term ‘AA-(tha)’ ratings on two series of guaranteed debentures issued by Holcim Capital (Thailand) Limited (HCT) – Series II (due 2010) and Series III (due 2012), amounting to THB4.6bn. The Outlook on the ratings has been revised to Stable from Negative, due to a similar Outlook revision of its guarantor, Holcim Ltd. (Holcim) (For more information, please refer to the rating action commentary entitled “Fitch Revises Holcim’s Outlook to Stable; Affirms IDR at ‘BBB’”, dated 29 January 2010). The ratings of HCT’s debentures are based entirely on the irrevocable and unconditional guarantee provided by Holcim (‘BBB’/Stable).


Holcim’s Outlook revision reflects Fitch’s view that its credit metrics will improve gradually in the coming 24 months, which will place them more comfortably within the range of a ‘BBB’ rating. Trading conditions for the industry in mature markets will likely to remain challenged, especially in Western Europe, while growth is expected to persist in major emerging countries. Furthermore, Fitch expects positive impact on free cash flow generation from cost reduction measures, lowered capex due to the phasing out of major investment projects, and a conservative dividend policy. This will enable Holcim to progressively improve its financial metrics at a pace faster than previously anticipated by the agency.

Fitch notes that any changes in the International rating differential between Holcim and Thailand’s Sovereign rating may affect the debentures’ National ratings. In addition, a one notch change in the International rating could result in a change of more than one notch in a National Rating.

Applicable Criteria available on Fitch’s website at www.fitchratings.com: “Corporate Rating Methodology”, dated 24 November 2009.

Contacts: Obboon Thirachit, Pimrumpai Panyarachun, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4755; Elisabetta Zorzi, Milan, +39 02 8790 87213.

Note to Editors: Fitch’s National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with relatively low international sovereign ratings and where there is demand for such ratings. The best risk within a country is rated ‘AAA’ and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. National ratings are designed for use mainly by local investors in local markets and are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as ‘AAA(tha)’ for National ratings in Thailand. Specific letter grades are not therefore internationally comparable.

Distress Ratio At Its Lowest Point In More Than Two Years, Article Says

After a protracted period of economic and financial stress that began in the second half of 2007, credit conditions appear favorable at the start of 2010, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's.


The speculative-grade corporate spread is now lower than at any point in 2009, closing at 586 basis points (bps) on Jan. 15. Along with this, the distress ratio is now solidly below its long-term average, at 10.4% as of Jan. 15. This is down from 14.6% in December, according to the article, titled "U.S. Distressed Debt Monitor: Distress Ratio Falls To 10%, An Optimistic Start To The New Year."

Standard & Poor's distress ratio is defined as the number of distressed securities divided by the total number of speculative-grade-rated issues. Distressed credits are speculative-grade-rated issues that have option-adjusted spreads of more than 1,000 bps relative to Treasuries.

"The homebuilders/real estate companies and insurance sectors are posting the highest debt-based distress ratios, at 75% and 28%, respectively," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group.

"In addition, the high technology sector has a debt-based distress ratio in excess of its traditional, issue-based measure," said Ms. Vazza. "This reveals that a disproportionate amount of speculative-grade debt in this sector is attributable to distressed companies."

This article is part of our premium Global Fixed Income Research content, which is available to premium subscribers to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com and to RatingsDirect at www.ratingsdirect.com. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.

Thai futures exchange postpones trading of 10 baht gold futures

Thailand Futures Exchange PCL (TFEX) has postponed the launch of 10 baht gold futures to give the Gold Traders Association and Thailand Gold Retail Club more time to create understanding among various parties and prepare for trading the new product.


“TFEX has notified the Association and the Club about the origins, reasons and results from a discussion with its members, including five gold-related agents, all agree that trading 10 baht gold futures will provide more alternatives to investors of gold futures. Currently, over half of the investors in gold futures have traded in SET50 futures, so they are familiar with futures already,” revealed TFEX Managing Director Kesara Manchusree.

TFEX requested the Association and Club to help create understanding of this new product among its members and potential investors and noted that TFEX stood ready to provide both educational activities and business information. Currently, the Securities and Exchange Commission permits retail gold traders to operate both selling agent (SA) and introducing agent (IA).

All TFEX members have already invested in operating platforms for the 10 baht gold futures, and are under testing process in parallel with providing knowledge and marketing activities prior to trading this product. Therefore, the postponing the launch of this product will affect all TFEX members and more than 500,000 investors in the capital market. TFEX will have to clarify and request for collaboration from its members to explain this issues to investors about the reasons and necessities.

TFEX understands the pressures that gold shops face, including the economic recession, rising gold prices, online gold trading, and changing consumer behavior on buying and selling gold ornaments. TFEX will discuss the new launch date with its members and announce the date to the public,” concluded Ms. Kesara.